


SENSATIONAL

by JustJuliana



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017), my life - Fandom
Genre: Bullying, Death, F/F, Friendship, Gangs, Homophobia, I can't tag for the life of me, I'm an unexperienced writer so bear with me, Multi, School, School Dances, The Black Hood, The Serpents, This has nothing to do with st, carrie the musical, murders, shaylee's a documentarian, this is taking a fucking turn, too many ships, too much shit is from Riverdale, watch Riverdale
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-02
Updated: 2018-07-19
Packaged: 2019-05-01 09:57:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 21,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14517996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustJuliana/pseuds/JustJuliana
Summary: so this all started from my short story in the sbac testing. there was a whole other chunk of shit you missed but I don't really feel like writing it again. his was also heavily requested by lilaconrad24@gmail.com.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey. Idk wtf this is but here she is

January 2020  
Juliana pov

After the traumatizing time travel event we were finally settling back down to normal. 

It was pretty normal. Except for the fact that Malana seemed to get meaner everyday. What started with slurs in the hallway is now throwing a milkshake on me. That's why I'm in the bathroom trying to make my hair look decent. And that's when Lila came in.

She noticed me and was very confused.

"how'd this happen? and where the fuck do they have milkshakes?" Lila asked trying to lighten the mood. It worked. It always did.

"Malana Suarez." I vaguely said. She had known about Malana bullying my friend group. 

"Seriously? I swear to god I'm gonna beat the shit outta her by the end of the year." She said. As much as I wanted to see Malana defeated, I didn't ant Lila to get in trouble. And there was no way in hell that my friend group was gonna punch her.

"What have I told you? She's gonna got to Pershing next year!" I was counting the days until she left.

"Yeah. I'm looking forward to that too." she said

"So are you going to the dance with anyone?" I asked with absolutely so subtlety.

"I might go with Kevin." great. she's going with a guy. 

*bell rings*

"see you later. bye!" she says as she exits the bathroom.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

After school @shaylee's house

 

"and the she came up to me and took my godamn stick! like who the fuck does she think she is?!" Stella said retelling the story of the allyism stick.

Every on started laughing at the story. I saw Shaylee hold Stella's hand but she pulled away realizing the risk. We wuld be cool about it. They were cool with me. But if they tell too many people and one of us starts talking too loud then word will get around. They tried to be "friends" in public but I still saw the stares and the blushing and hugs. They were cute. They were happy. But I couldn't help but be jealous. They could be in a relationship but I couldn't even tell Lila. .

January 17, 2020. 3 days 'til the dance Lila pov. well at least I have a liable excuse as to why I didn't have a date. Kevin bailed on being my fake date to go to Fang's house. (yes, his name is fangs). I still don't know if Juliana has a date yet. Not that it matters anyway. She probably doesn't even want to to be friends with meOver the last month we'd been growing apart and only seeing each other in class. I mean we used to text everyday for at least an hour. I mean we still talk but its not the same. Like one day after gym she just walked off when the bell rang and didn't even say bye. I know that's being dramatic but c'mon. 

when I came out my mom was literally so supportive. My dad lacked all respect and understanding of me but I'm used to it. He still says "bye dyke" cause he's too drunk to remember my name. And my mom is single handedly paying our bills and rent with her children's books. I'm proud to be her daughter.

*knock, knock, knock*

"come in." It was my mom. she had the brownies. when I was little she used to take me to Denny's and she would get me a kid's meal. I never eat off the adult menu so now we get the dinner to go.

"Hi honey, how was school?" she asked holding 4 bags of food.

"good. how was 'work'" what qualified as work was sitting in a chair all day and writing. But she insisted that she shouldn't be interrupted.

"amazing! I finished it!" she had been working on this book for about 4 months. it was really personal and it took a lot of work, but she finally found the right conclusion.

"Hey Emaline, get down here!" my dad yelled all the way across the house. he was seriously that lazy.

"gotta go. Remember bedtime at 9"

"ok love you mom." I said

"love you too peaches."

 

That night I couldn't go to sleep. I kept thinking about the dance. And then I came up with a plan. I would tell Juliana that Kevin bailed, and then lead her ot the math room. Then I'll confess. I'll also bring my gopro with me so that if she doesn't like me back, I can tell her it was for a youtube prank. hmm seems like a pretty good plan. Now I need someone else's opinion. wonder how I'll do that?

 

Notes  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
I might finish this. have a good night. also, there was a technical difficulty so the paragraph after she talks about how shaylee and stella are cute, lila's pov starts.


	2. Shit Fest 2020

January 18, 2020

Lila POV, 2 days 'til the dance

 

I really don't want to talk to Grady about this. I feel like he's been annoyed by me recently. I mean he's always distant but now he won't even laugh at my jokes. I really don't know at this point.

 

I had to do this on my own. An idea popped into my head. I was following as stranger things confession account who also had a regular confession acc> I could ask them. I mean she has like 16.5k followers. At least 50 of them would comment. I can't believe I just thought of this. OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD!!!!!!!!!! SHIT the dance is literally in two days and getting pretty close to one.

 

I had to be quick with this.

 

So I have a plan. I'm going to tell my crush I like them. If they say no, then I'll pull out my GoPro and say it was a prank. If they say yes then we date or some shit like that. Is this a good plan?

 

This will be posted on my acc. and yes, yes it is.

 

That night I went to sleep peacefully knowing that I had a plan.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

January 20, 2020

Juliana POV, at the dance

 

The dance was really crappy. I mean the brownies were expired by a month, the DJ kept on playing awful music, and the fact that I had to watch Stella and Shaylee be miserable while everyone else got to be public was heartbreaking. I ended up telling them that I knew and now I know they always go to the quarry after school. Its like their sanctuary.

 

Malana ended up leaving early with Archie so I didn't have to deal with her. Then Maddox came up to me.

 

"Can I tell you something?" she asked nervously.

 

"Sure. You can ask me anything." I replied confused af.

 

"I'm pan." she whispered in my ear. Finally, someone else like me.

 

"OMG I'm bi." I whispered back.

 

"Can't believe we just came out at a middle school dance." she replied.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

January 20, 2020

Lila pov, the dance

 

I got there and I saw nobody I knew. Not even Elise was there. I mean Juliana and Stella were there but I was starting to get cold feet. What if she doesn't like me back? What if she stares at me in disgust? What if she doesn't believe me when I say it's a prank? What if she saw the confession account? oh god. then I felt someone come behind me. It was Ryan

 

"Wanna dance?" he asked. As much as I didn't like him, it was a good way to get my mind off of Juliana. It would also hide my sexuality too.

 

"Sure." I replied and he took my hand. He was terrible at dancing. He kept on dabbing and attempting to dance. Then Every Breath You Take came on.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

January 20, 2020

Juliana pov, the dance

 

I looked around the dance floor. All straight kids. But one couple seemed to stand out. It was Lila. She was dancing with Ryan. Ryan Reynolds. The guy that is known for the play book. And then he kissed her. He fucking kissed her. It seemed like time stopped. At first I turned around not wanting to look at the scene. Then I felt tears coming and I rushed to the bathroom. The only place I felt safe. About 20 minutes later the door opened.

 

"Are you okay?"

 

Notes

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey. So I basically have and idea of what I want to happen and I will consider requests. Have a great day/afternoon/evening/night. Oh yeah and the confession account I used is actually real. A lot of shit in this is basic shit like the allyism stick and the gopro. I'll leave more easter eggs too.


	3. The Aftermath

January 20, 2020  
Juliana POV, the bathroom

 

I started crying even more after she asked that. Not even over Lila just that I was so immature to not just let it go. Also the fact that my friends probably saw me run out of there. Or not. I’m pretty sure the dance ends in two minutes.

And I still have no idea who the fuck this girl is. She has a brunette bob and is tall. She looks like a Sierra. But who am I to assume. Everyone thought me and Maddox were twins in the second grade.

I thought she would ask what happened. And then I would have to say ‘nothing’ and storm out to find another hiding place. The field would be a good option. I’m pretty sure there’s a gang that sleeps in the park and they survive. One thing’s for sure, I’m not going to my house at this state of mind. But what completely shocks me is what she says

“I can’t imagine what you’re going through right now, but I know you’ll get through it. Even if I don’t know who tf you are.” we laughed a bit. I’m starting to like this girl.

“I’m Ava.” She said. Definitely not the name I was expecting.

“I’m Juliana.” I said.

“Cool.  so I have no idea where you’re going after they shut down the dance but I’m staying here. I’m ‘staying over at a friend’s house’ right now.”

I swear to god we were literally talking for HOURS.  4 to be exact. Turns out, I have history, math, homeroom, and english with her. Her favorite color is purple and one day she wants to be a women’s activist. She has a pretty basic life. Not poor but not rich. Not invisible but not super visible. Then we went to sleep in the wheelchair stall. Still surprises me how the  janitor hasn’t locked the bathroom doors yet. Or even acknowledged our existence.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
January 20, 2020  
Lila POV, the dance

Turns out Ryan was drunk and he ended up running to the bathroom. I see Stella sitting alone which is a shock considering she never leaves Shaylee’s side.

Then she comes up to me.

“Have you seen Juli?” she asks very concerned  
“No, why/?” I ask. What the hell happened when me and ryan were dancing

“She was here like ten minutes ago and now she’s just gone.” 

“Maybe she left early. This is ending in 30 minutes.” I explained trying to figure out a reason why she would all of the sudden.

“Yeah but we were gonna go to the photo booth and take pictures after we were done people watching.”

‘If you were people watching together, then why do you not know where she is?” clearly something happened

“I was getting us drinks and then when I came back she wasn’t there. I asked the people around the area and nobody has a fucking clue where she is.”

“Let’s just text her later tonight then.” I say trying ot have a plan. Like the last one I had wans’t just ruined.

“Yeah that sounds good.” Stella said before returning to Shaylee. I swear to god those two have to be dating.

 

That night she didn’t answer any of my texts. None of the emails. Not one of the calls. Not even the messages on Animo.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
January 21, 2020  
Juliana POV, the morning after

Turns out the janitor did lock the doors. Now we’re stuck here until Monday. It’s not that bad but drinking the sink water is absolutely disgusting not to mention uncomfortable.

“So why don’t you tell em what really happened last night.” she said. Not asked, demanded.

“I saw my crush dancing with somebody else and I overreacted. Then I started crying about my shitty home life,  the cuts, and the school in general.” I state tersely.

“Cool.” would I know them?” she asks, trying to figure out who it was.

“Yes. she’s in math.” Ava’s one of the few people who is not homophobic.

“Jamie? Ella? Irene? Naia? Maya? Brooke Bever? The other Brooke? How about Leia? Lila?”  
When she says her name I nod slowly and awkwardly.

“OMG Lila? Oh wow did not see that one coming.” I didn’t take offense ‘cause Lila is known for being the troublemaker at school.

“Well have you told her?” She aks.

I shake my head.

“Well I’m gonna give you a deadline. March 1st. You gotta either tell her, or make your move ‘cause i believe in the rule that you have two months.” She stated. I mean it was basically a month away. I could handle it.

“Do you have a crush?” I ask her.

“Oh girl I’m currently on plan ‘H’ of trying to let her know. She can’t seem to get the hint.” she states very confidently.

“Will you at least tell me her name?” I ask very curious about who it is.

“Kate Prichard” she states after a sigh.

“Cool.” I said

“Yeah it’s pretty cool.” she says

 

Notes:  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
So I kinda got lazy on this chapter but I really wanted to get it up right now so I’ll try to get through the school firewall. As always, have a good morning/day/afternoon/evening/night. See ya.


	4. What I think about in science class

February 26, 2020  
Juliana POV, school

I had started to hang out with Ava so fucking much.  Maybe even more than my friend group. She calls me Toni which I don’t understand but I kinda like it. We actually live in the bathroom now. Her parents lost the house and are now living in a motel that doesn’t allow kids so they basically just dropped her off on the streets.

My family was a different story. So basically they’ve both been cheating on each other. They need to have their space and broke up. Couldn’t fucking decide who would take me so as you probably know, they kicked me out.

We figured out that her plan H wouldn’t work ‘because she would never confess to a stranger. I’m currently apart of plan L. March 1st she’s gonna talk about having a crush on me and seeing how she reacts. We literally watched 6 videos on ‘the perfect  way to know if someone likes you’. There is no ‘perfect way’ because everyone’s different. But Kate was almost basic so it would probably work.

I still had no plan. I mean I’m thinking of going on Quora and asking people there but I really don’t know. I’m probably just gonna have Ava tell her for me. Seems simple. Then I can just avoid her for the rest of the year. I mean telling someone you like them when they’re ‘in a relationship’. I wouldn’t call her and Ryan a relationship, just that everyone assumes it is and I’m not gonna ask her

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
January 20, 2020  
Ava POV, the dance  
(flashback?)

I saw a girl standing there just kinda staring into the distance. She had long rose brown hair and seemed pretty tall. She was also really pretty. But blue was definitely not her color. Than when I really looked at her (omg this sounds so creepy) I saw that there were tears on the verge of falling out. Then she ran.

I had two options. 1: stay here and miserably people watch being jealous that I’m single and 2: running after her even though I still don’t even know her name. She looks like a Toni. Or an amber-but this is besides the point. I go with the second option.

When I open the bathroom I can tell she was full on crying.

“Are you okay?” I ask. Of course she's not. Why the fuck else would she be crying. But she seemed to be crying even more after that. Oh god what have I done. But then I remember what my grandma told me when she saw me crying. God I missed her.

“I can’t imagine what you’re going through, but I know you’re gonna get through this. Even if I don’t know who tf you are.” She laughs. Thank god.

“I’m Ava.” I say hoping I can develop a bond with this girl.

“I’m Juliana.” Not the name I was expecting but it fits her. Still looks like a Toni to me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
February 26, 2020  
Lila POV, science class

I still don’t know what the fuck happened with me and Juliana. I mean  after she walked out of the dance she kept on trying to avoid me. And I always caught her staring at me when I’m with Ryan. I couldn’t help but think I have some hope for us. But she’s probably just looking at something behind me.

I’m trying to go through everything that happened at the dance. At least do something productive instead of watching bill nye.

-I went there.  
-Stared at her for a little bit.  
-She seemed fine.  
-Stella said they were having a good time until she walked away.  
-She said she left when the song ended.  
-The slow jam song.  
-The song that me and Ryan were dancing to.  
-The song that was playing while he kissed me (un-consensually). 

OMG. she like sme. SHE FUCKING LIKES ME!!!!!!!!!!!. I still had to be calm or else I would have to explain to ms. Quesada why I was dancing around like a fucking idiot. 

Now I just gotta tell her.

 

Notes:  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
I was gonna take a break but then I got really bored and there was no tea on InstaGram so I came back to the fic. Now I know that Lila’s processing won’t make sense but I needed convenience to move the story forward. I'm also very desperate for IG followers so go follow me @thejulianavillegas Have a great m/d/a/e/n. bai


	5. I've lost him

February 28, 2020

Lila POV, after school

 

I was sitting with my friend group under the tree. We were all laughing at something Kalia. She’s always pretty funny

 

“So how’s life Grady?” I asked trying to find a way to talk to him. I swear he has been drifting from me ever since January. Like I’m slowly losing him.

 

“So Kayla, how was Ms. Quesada today?” he asks. Not even answering an easy ass question. Kalia and Irene seemed to notice to and talked to me. Out of sympathy of course.

 

After school (2:30 pm)

 

I saw my grandma’s car pull up and was really excited. On Thursdays we always went to Starbucks. I don't really know how the tradition started or why it did but it happens every week. Plus I really wanted to get the hell outta school.

 

“How was school today deary?” she asked.

 

“Good.” I usually say that everyday though.

 

‘Well that's great.” she said bluntly. I think she knows I’m lying. She doesn’t press any further so i'm off the hook.

 

Then I get a text from Grady.

 

“Can I tell you something.” It said. I really didn't know what he was gonna say.

“Sure” i reply. What the fuck is it?

“I'm not gonna be friends with you anymore”

 

It didn't really surprise me that he was saying this. I wasn't crying over it. But it didn't stop me from thinking. Whenever you're about to cry, thinking makes it worse. All the months we spent together. Leaving my old friend group to sit with his. All the times in band when we would just laugh at how insane the class was. That stupid anime hairstyle that we did together. All of it, probably was just a fucking lie. Like life just has to be cruel to me again. I'm already losing Juliana and Stella, now i've completely lost him.

 

“Why would you just stop being friends with out of the blue?!”

 

‘It isn't worth it. All the pain, suffering. You're just this fake friend when really, you're just some loveless monster who doesn't even have proper etiquette. Just all of it. I'm done with our friendship. And I don't want you talking about it tomorrow.”

 

“Well I have a speech planned and I won't back down until you give me real reason.”

 

No response.

 

And that's what caused me to cry right in front of my grandma. Thankfully, she didn't notice.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

February 28, 2020

Juliana POV, after school

5:20 pm

 

I’m really bored. Me and Ava are on our phones. I think she’s playing some kind of game. Probably rise up. Me, on the other hand, have run out of things ot do. I've played flappy bird until I got really triggered and quit in frustration, I've been on IG so much that there are no new posts or tea, and none of my favorite youtubers are making videos. So I decide to text a friend. I’m thinking who would be the most likely to answer. Ugh. of course it's Lila. 

 

“Hello.” I text waiting for a response

 

“Hi.” she replies.

 

“How’s life?” I ask. We used to starts hour long conversations like this.

 

“Meh. My friend just stopped being friends with me completely out of the blue. You?” wow was not expecting this shit

 

“Who was it?” I ask, wanting to know who it was.

 

“Grady.” she replies vaguely

 

“Wait seriously?” I ask wanting to make sure she was actually talking about Grady. The guy that she literally spends most of the day with. \

 

“Yeah.” she says.

 

“Are you okay?” I ask stupidly. Of course she’s not, her best friend just unfriended her.

 

“I've calmed down a bit. But I was crying before. Now I’m just mad.” I have an idea.

 

“So what’re you gonna do?” I ask

 

“Gtg bye.” she said. What the actual fuck? Then I realized it. Whenever something bad happened she would go to a certain place. Not that I was stalking her.

 

“Hey Ava, I’m gonna go to the book star. Should be back tonight.”

 

“K. Bye Toni.”

 

“Bye.” 

 

And then I left.

 

Notes

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ok so I have a few shoutouts right now. Lila and Stella have been huge supporters of the story so far and are literally such great friends. Go follow Lila @toast_is_here. Go follow Shaylee @dovewing82. And go follow Grady and Ava @gradythegreat22 and @btstrash6023. Also, I’m pretty sure only like two people have actually left kudos so leave kudos so I know if anyone is actually reading this. Probably only the two people. And btw, THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH STRANGER THINGS. If you can't already tell. 

 

Also the whole Grady vs Lila thing actually happened and I probably messed some stuff up because SOMEONE was a procrastinator. But now they are friends again and everything’s fine.

 

goodbye


	6. You're not deviant

February 28, 2020  
Juliana POV, book star

I saw her at the concession stand with popcorn. She seemed like she was waiting. Decided I was gonna make my entrance.  
“Let guess, a cherry cola for Lila Conrad.” I said. She turned to face me and she looked excited but also really confused.

“Are you stalking me?” she asks wondering how the fuck I knew she was here.

“I’m not. I was see a movie with Fangs but he bailed.” Not actually true. But I’m a pretty damn good actress if I can pull this off. But when I said Fangs she looked disappointed. Was she jealous?

“I was gonna see it alone, but I thought you might like the company.” I said. I knew she would go see Love, Simon. She planned to watch it when something shitty happened. Again, I’m not stalking her or looking in her journal…

 

The movie is actually really funny and cute. Loving that it’s representative and can be relatable. It was very spacious in the theatre because the world is evil and made me live in a red state.

I looked over at Lila and she was really focused on the movie. Good, she isn't paying attention to the fact that her best friend just ‘dumped’ her.

We got to the scene where the mom is telling Simon she knew he was keeping a secret. I looked over at Lila again. She was crying. I figured I’ll tease about it later.

~~~~~~~~~~~  
Still exactly the same but now they’re at a diner

 

We went to Pop’s later. Surprisingly we were still hungry and it's the only place that was open.  
We sat at the bar and got milkshakes.

“You may have mastered the art of silent crying, but I saw a couple tears slip.” I said bringing it up again.

“I usually don't cry at movies. My own life is too tragic.” she said. Well that got dark.

“But when Simon’s mom said that he used to be such a happy and carefree kid…. And then just stopped. Because he was keeping his secret.” she was starting to cry. Oh god wtf did I do?

“Everyone thinks I’m just this love less monster. But it's not true.” she was slowly talking. Struggling to not let tears escape. “I loved someone. Who loved me. And then my hideous father destroyed it.” she said letting a few tears out. It quite literally broke my heart.

“Was it your brother? I know how close you two were.” Her brother died a few years ago.

“No. Not JJ.” she was very hesitant as if she was choosing whether to say something or not.

“Her name was…. Heather.” Did she just come out to me?

“She was my best friend in 6th grade. We were in band together. And she would sleep over at my house almost every weekend. Until one night… my father caught us in the same bed. He said I was…. Deviant. And my mother just went along with whatever he said.” she was full-on crying now. I didn't know what to do.

“Lila...I’m so, so so sorry. But you have to know you’re mother’s wrong. You’re not loveless. You're not  deviant you’re…..” And in this moment I held her hand. I mentally slapped myself for a minute but she seemed to relax into the touch. “Sensational.” I finished my sentence. She looked at me for a second. And then she kissed me. It wasn't long. Maybe for three second but it was enough to make me forget about everyone else who could be watching.

 

Notes:  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
So I’m gonna say this.  This storyline was in riverdale and the base of Choni. I used their storyline and modified it to fit mine. I do not own Riverdale or it’s plot. But you should go watch it. 

Anyways, this chapter felt very cringe to write but I honestly didn't know what else to do with the storyline. I can't write kissing scenes to save my life. But honestly I’m probably gonna take a break from this for like a week tops. I just kinda need new ideas.

Stella’s pinterest is @caramelcinnabunny


	7. Initiation

July 18, 2020

Juliana POV

 

8th grade had passed really fast actually. Lila made it go by a little faster but there is one thing I’ve wanted to do.

 

Join the serpents.

 

Lemme give you some background info. The serpents are a gang on the southside that has been around since the summer of 1942. They all live in sunnyside trailer park together. you have to be at least in high school to join. You can probably see where I’m going with this. 

 

The initiation process is easy for girls. Because the gang was created when misogyny was the norm, all the girls have to do is the traditional serpent dance. If they like what they see, then 6 men get to swing a punch at you to see how well you can take a beating. Then you just have to recite the serpent laws and buy the jacket from the white wyrm and you’re all set.

 

Yeah it does seem very problematic but I wanna do this. I want to have a family that will look out for me and I really wanna let out some of my inner anger. 

 

This Summer everyone’s (by everyone I mean the core four ships/couples) hung out at the starbook a lot. We don't really watch movies that much, we just sit in the arcade and talk.

 

Kate ended up confessing to Ava which completely shocked all of us. They told us last week but honestly, we knew since May. Stella and Shaylee are out publicly and are now more happy than ever. Me and Lila don't give two shits about what other people think now so we’re Boring, California’s resident gay couple. Maddox still has her crush on Eva. She was gonna tell her in June but chickened out. She signed a ‘contract’ saying she had to tell her by the end of Summer.

 

“What’re you guys doing today?” Kate asked.

 

“Me and Juliana are gonna go look for jobs.” Ava lied. She’s my alibi. I don't want anyone trying to convince me not to join.

 

“Well the rest of us are gonna be watching While You Sleep, so you wanna come Lila?” Stella asked. Rom-coms weren’t really my thing.

 

“Nah, I’m gonna hang out with my mom tonight.” she said. Her and her mom have been hanging out a lot more recently. She divorced Tom and now has her old personality back. She even made three more books.

 

“Cool. tell us if you find any jobs.” Kate told us before we all left. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

I decided to take Ava with me to the initiation. I definitely didn't want to go alone. 

 

“Toni, you look hot.” Ava said trying to get me motivated. “You’re gonna blow them away.” she said.

 

“Thank you.” i said thankful to have such a great friend. And then it was my turn to come up.

 

“I’m Toni Topaz, 14, and I have a switchblade in my pocket.” the usual introduction. I decide to go with Toni ‘because I’m starting to like it more and more nowadays.

 

I do the dance and go back the table of girls. The serpent king comes up to the table.

 

“Look, we only want Kali and Toni. sorry guys.” he says blatantly. The other girls go off and cry to the bathroom. I can hear Ava cheering even though I haven't even made it in yet.

 

“Now you two. Toni, we’ll do the beating tonight, we’ll do Kali’s tomorrow night. Got it?” he says. Looks like I’m getting beat up tonight.

 

“Got it.” we both say in unison.

 

~~~

 

The king leads me outside. I can already see 6 guys lined up. Here we go.

 

“I’m Toni, 14, and I have a switchblade in my pocket.” this intro is getting old.

 

The king leads me to an ‘x’ on the ground. Guessing this is the traditional spot.

 

First guy. The guy is super tall and lanky and it barely hurts. I have blank expression. You can't show cowardice.

 

Second guy. This one is short and fat. Doesn't hurt that much. Just a little more than the first. No expression.

 

Third guy. This one is in the gut. Hurts like a bitch but I can take it. No expression.

 

Fourth guy. This guy takes at least 6 punches. Three on each arm. No expression.

 

Fifth guy. This is in the shin and I want to fall down. But no expression.

Sixth guy. The last guy. This guy was tall and very masculine. He had on brass knuckles and there’s definitely huge bruising from this one. No expression.

 

And I’m done. They all get in a huddle and are whispering. Hopefully I did a good job or otherwise I just got beat up for nothing.

 

The king comes over to mee. “Recite the laws.” he says. Looks like I did a good job. I’m always great at lying anyway

 

“Number one: a serpent never shows cowardice. Number two: if a serpent is killed or imprisoned, the their family will be taken care of. Number three: a serpent is never left for dead. Number four: a serpent never betrays his own. Number five: in unity, there is strength.” I recite. I hope that I didn't mess any up.

 

“You’re in Toni.” he says with a smile. “What’s your jacket size?” he asks. I can't believe i'm actually in.

 

“Women’s medium or men’s small” I say trying not to act too excited.

 

“Damn tiny. Most girls I know would kill for your body.” the last guy says. “I'm sweet pea.” he says.

 

“You already know my name. But I’ll take tiny as a nickname to my nickname.”

 

“You lucked out in finding this one.” sweet pea tells the king. I still don't know his name.

 

“Mind if I ask your name?” I ask the king.

 

“Forsythe Pendleton III. But call me FP.” he said.

 

“Cool.” i said.

 

“So you're gonna have to be here at least once a day. We have a few more spots for bartenders if you want. And the monthly motorcycle competition is next week incase you wanna sign up. And drinking is mandatory.” he says.

 

“I can live with that.” i say, still freaking out over the fact that I’m a wolf.

 

“And here.” he says while handing me a switchblade. “I know you have your own but we use these as a sign of unity.” he say. I take the knife. Looks like my life will get pretty interesting.

 

Notes:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So ummmm this will take a very DARK turn soon and I’m completely turning away from my original plan. 

 

Also, I’m kinda just using a whole bunch of shit from Riverdale because it's my favorite show EVER. seriously, watch it.


	8. FP

July 19, 2020

Juliana POV

I went to the white wyrm that morning. Said they had my jacket ready. I'm still taking it all in. I mean this is a life commitment. But I'm committed. This is my family that I wish I had. I went to the back room where they told me to. I go in and there’s Fangs. He’s the one who actually introduced me to the serpents. I’m real surprised they supported his homosexuality.

“Look who finally joined.” he says with a smirk. 

“It took a long time too. And correct me if I’m wrong but you only got initiated last week.” I say, making a bad comeback.

“Hey, I had to fetch a knife from an actual living snake and get beat up by TWENTY men. So it took longer. And a lot more physical endurance.” he says. “Anyways, here’s your jacket. Men’s small. They make you look a little more badass.” he says as I take the jacket. Seems too much like a dream

“Thanks man.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The book star

Juliana POV

I’m still pretty nervous about showing up here. Like I mean I joined a gang overnight and there’s gonna be no change? Doubt that.

I go up tp our table and they all just kinda stare at me in confusion.

“What happened?”

“Are you ok?”

“Is that a bruise?”

“What the actual fuck?”

“Is that a serpent jacket?”

My god can't they take turns.

“One at a damn time please. Shaylee, you first.” I say.

“Did you join the serpents?” she asks with amazement.

“Yes, yes I did. Now I’d like you to be supportive and nice about it.” i say.

“That is SO badass! Can I join?” shaylee asks.

“Badass?! Don't you think it's really dangerous?” Eva asks. She’s the more conservative one of the 8.

“If she wants to be in a gang, then le ther be in a gang. Besides I was there last night and it was totally cool. Even found a job there.” Ava says. Thank god she values my opinions.

“Hey can I talk to you in private?” Lila asks.

“Sure.” i reply. Oh god.

~~~

“The serpents? A gang juli?” she asks with concern.

“Yes. my god have you not figured it out already!” did I seriously just yell at her. “Sorry, it's just that I was hoping you’d be cool with it.”

“It’s just… you always here in the papers that the serpents get in an all out annihilation or the serpents are selling drugs or serpents murdered by angry mob. I don't know what I would do if something happened to you. I love you.” we’d only said the ‘L’ word three times.

“I love you too. But you have to know that I can protect myself. Plus Shaylee seems real serious about joining. And Fangs is there. I promise you.” I hold her hand. “That I will not die ‘because of this. Trust me, I’m a fighter.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Since they were doing initiations all week, I took Shaylee to the white wyrm tonight. She’s actually wanted to join for years. I lead her to the table. I already taught her the dance and gave her some of the extra lingerie Ava made me buy.

She went up there and killed it. I mean there was one awkward moment but still really good. Then the serpent king approached the table.

I went to the table next to it so I could hear it.

“Listen, we want Shaylee and Molly. Lucy, you can try again next time.” she walked away and it was time for the dates.

“So we can fit both of you in. stay here and I’ll come get you as the other one finishes. Got it?” he says like a drill sergeant.

“Got it.” they say in unison.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shaylee POV

They pull me out to an ‘x’ on the floor. Guessing this is it. I see 6 guys lined up.

It hurt like bitch. I mean the shins were brutal, the gut punch disabled my breathing for awhile, and the brass knuckles were awful. But Juliana said you couldn’t show pain. I recite the laws and I think I’m in! Been dreaming of this for years.

“You’re in Shay.” the king tells me.

A girl yesterday brought it up that i never introduced myself. Forsythe Pendleton II.”

“But they call me FP,” we say in unison. It can't be. No, my mom said he died when I was 2. My mom would never lie to me.

“What?” he asks confused

Then I knew it. Why my mom kept me away from the serpents.

“You’re my dad. Aren't you?”

Notes:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*gasps* so like yeah. It's taken a turn.


	9. First day

July 20, 2020  
Shaylee POV

“You lied and said that dad died YEARS ago, mom!! And now, 14 years later, I meet him after finding out he’s the leader of the serpents. The gang I’ve dreamed about being in for years. And you didn’t even have the decency to tell me that he was alive?” I scream at home the next day. I stayed at Juliana’s and planned my big speech there.

“Honey-” she said before I cut her off.

“Don’t call me honey.” i say. Not requesting.

“Shaylee, you weren’t planned. I had you when I was 17. You know that. FP….. he wanted to keep you. But I didn’t want to. I broke it off with him afterwards. Then my mom gave me $100,000 for me to keep you. So I did.” she explained.

“Hold up. I get it that you were a teen mom and shit, but why did you tell me he was dead?!” I screamed/asked.

“I didn’t want you to go looking for your dad. He is the leader of a gang and I didn’t want you involved in that. Too late for that now.” she says bitterly. “See if he died or was arrested, you would automatically be the serpent queen. Now that you’ve actually joined, it’s inevitable. You’re gonna have to lead the Serpents someday.” 

~~~~~~  
August 29, 2020  
Juliana POV

Days in the white wyrm have been awesome. I usually hang out with Fangs and Shaylee, but lately I’ve hung out FP too. Since I needed somewhere to go, I’m sharing Sweet Pea’s trailer. He’s actually really cool. Shaylee’s living with her dad now and they’ve taken Ava in.

School starts tomorrow and I can not be more dreadful. At least Malana and her worker bees aren’t there. Now I’ll probably be judged for being a Serpent. But the other Serpents are there so I’ll be fine.

After Maddox came out to the rest of us, she also revealed her crush on Eva. Eva then stormed away and she won;t come back to our group. Maddox then started hanging out more with her old friend group ‘because it felt awkward being the only single one. Kate and Ava broke up. Kate had been dealing with depression and she said she needed space. Ava was devastated and we ended up watching the kardashians and crying the rest of the night. Hope they can make it through this.

~~~~~  
August 30, 2020  
Stella POV

 

I get in to the school and in shock. This place is literally so much cooler than the middle school. There’s pictures of the football team, the vixens, AV club, blue and gold paper club. Can’t wait for this. We have actual lockers here and it’s indoors. There’s like no dress code and it’s easy to navigate. Wow I can’t believe I actually like school.

I look around the halls and see a lounge room for the blue and gold. Something I have taken over since I was twelve. Nobody else wanted to do it so they asked me. Always had a passion for writing. Shaylee helps out a lot with it and I can’t thank her enough. She knows about drug wars and drive races and the ghoulies. The rival gang from Derry. Because we’re the only ones who even care about the paper, we get the room all to ourselves and our friends. Yeah we might be alone sometimes bending the rules a bit but honestly, the teachers don’t give two  shits about us so we’re good.

The five of us are in the lounge when the vp comes in.

“Hello ladies. My name is Ms. Weiss. We have to check for weapons so could everyone take out you bags.” she says. Seems logical to check for guns in this place. 

They start with Ava, and check her free. They check Lila; she’s good. They go to Juli; she’s surprisingly all clear. Must’ve left the switchblade at home. They check me; obviously I’m clear. and then Shaylee. They take out her switchblade. Shit, c’mon, you couldn’t leave it at home. She takes it out and pulls out her phone and calls the cops.

“I’m gonna have you stay here until the authorities come.” she said. I’m really starting to hate this lady. She sits Shaylee down on the couch. She’s crying. I mouth the words “it’ll be ok. I love you”. She nods her head understandingly.

Then Juli’s phone rings.

“Hello?”  
-  
“What is it?”  
-  
“Oh my god are you serious.”  
-  
“Of course. They’re gonna have to shut down the school today.”

She hung up the phone, crying. what the fuck happened?

“What is it?” Ava asks concerned.

“Eva got shot… she’s dead.”


	10. incarcerated

September 1, 2020  
Maddox POV

They dragged me through the halls by my handcuffed wrists. Gave me a stupid blue uniform and threw me in the cell. I didn’t even kill her. What the hell

~~~24 hours earlier~~~

 

Lila Pov

Juliana drove us to the hospital in Stella’s mom’s car. She’s pretty good at this. Probably from the motorcycle training. But, she’s completely forgot about all traffic laws and running red lights while speeding. Surprised we even got to the hospital in one piece.

We got there and she parked in between two spots. We all got out and ran to go find Maddox and Shaylee. 

“Ok, me and Lila will go look for Maddox, Ava and Stella, you guys go look for Shaylee.” Juliana says planning the battle strategy.

We run to the confessional area and find her crying on the bench. I text Ava that we found her.

“Oh my god Maddox, when did you find out?” I ask her.

“I was sitting by the river and I looked to my right and I saw the body. Nobody is believing me in there.” she say while crying. “I would never do that to her.”

“We believe you.” Juliana says reassuring Maddox. I still don't know if I can trust her.

A man comes out of the room. “Hello ladies, Ms. Weiss told us that you two and the other three were not involved in this. Therefore, I suggest you leave or we will have to find a cell for you.” he says harshly. We literally run out of there. Time to go find Shaylee.

 

~~~  
Stella POV

Me and Ava go up to the receptionist. She says she’s in cell 13. We go over there. I see her leaning on the wall sobbing. She looks miserable. She doesn’t even notice we’re there until two minutes later.

“Do they think I did it?” She asks us.

“No, Ms Weiss cleared our names. We were at  school the whole morning so it wasn’t possible. They said the time of death had to be just when we went to school.” I say consoling her.

“Look at me. You are here because you had a weapon on school grounds. Now you have to exercise your right to remain the hell silent. If they can’t find something to stick, they’ll let you out in 12 hours. But you can’t give them any info. Don’t answer their questions and don’t engage in conversations with them. Trust me, my mom was an attorney for two years.” Ava says, with determination in her voice. She knows so much about this that it’s crazy. 

“Now we’re leaving to find the others, we won’t come back until your 12 hours are up. It could risk your case. Bye now.” we say goodbye to her. Let’s go find Maddox.

~~~~~  
Ava POV

We go to the lobby and find the three of them sitting together. We rush over there.

“They’re thinking it was her. But, they needed another cell and they don’t have one so she’s free.” Lila explains.

Then Sarka comes through the doors. “Hi honey, ready to go?” she says, shocking me and Stella. “Sorry, I’m dropping Maddox off at her house. She wants to spend her last free moments there.” she says. We let her take her. We all give her a hug goodbye and watch her leave.

~~~~~  
Maddox POV

 

After she drops me off I hear the familiar doorbell I grew up to it broke a couple years ago so now it’s repeating over and over again. I open the door expecting so se mom, but it’s Kate.

“Can I come in?” she asks.

“I came here to say that I’m sorry for your loss. I mean to see your crush lifeless along the shore with a bloody head and bruised arms, looking five shades paler; it must be devastating.” she says sincerely. Wait a minute, how did she know exactly what Eva looked like?

“How do you know what she looked like?” I asked her. She makes an “ah shit” face.

“The news crew gave a description.” she says. “I’m gonna go, but I wanna say that you’ll get through this.” she says before leaving.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Ava Pov

 

We’re still at the station. We’re all there just sitting in silence. I decide to talk

“She has three more hours left. Then she can leave. She hasn’t said a word and it’s really helping her out.” I say trying to give everyone a sense of reassurance.

“And Maddox. How bad do you think her case is?” Juliana asks. They’ve been bestfriends since the first grade and the thought of not seeing her outside of jail was driving her insane. All of us can see the pain and frustration in her eyes.

“Well, I start with giving her 10 points. Each bad things gets rid of a point. She has no alibi; 9 points. She was the first person to report her body; 8 points. She didn’t remain silent during her interviews; 7 points. She stayed at the station when they let her ‘go’; 6 points. She had a motive; that would be 3 points. If you have even one possible motive that’s a HUGE disadvantage. So chance are, she’ll be arrested and given a court date. But I’m sure she’ll find a great attorney that can save her ass.” i explain, each girl having a different facial expression. Juliana was devastated, Lila was very concentrated on something, and Stella looked at Ava in fascination.

“Who do you think did it?” Lila asks us.

“I think it was her mom. Whenever I went to her house, she was always so weird around me and wouldn’t let go in the red room.” I say theorizing.

“I think it was her psychopathic brother. He’s normally high whenever I’m around and has a gun in his room for “safe keeping”.”  Juliana says memorably.

“Let’s wait ‘til she gets out. We’ll move on from there.” I say. This was gonna be a long night.

~~~~~~~~  
Maddox POV

 

I’m running on the streets with a suitcase of all my things. I can’t go to jail for something I didn’t do. I have to run. In seaside, there’s a cabin that my family owns. I can do this. Yeah….

 

~~~~~  
Back at Maddox’s house

 

The cops forcefully opened the doors to find nobody. They saw a completely empty house with no people. But what shocked them was the living room. 

“She must’ve left.” the male cop says.

“We have to keep her friends at the station. They could be harmed if we don't catch her.” the woman cop says. “We need to find her.”

“Well, she took her phone with her so we could easily track her.” the man says.

“Let’s do it.” the woman and man say in unison. They were going to find her. No matter how long it took.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Stella POV

 

After three hours of theorizing the four of us were given Shaylee back. She immediately hugged all of us and we started laughing and retelling stories. Shaylee found it especially funny that Juli managed to run over a fire hydrant on the way here. 

A woman came up to with a key and some blankets. 

“Your friend Maddox is dangerous, we need to keep you safe until we find her.” she says disgustingly calm. “Come along, we have a cell prepared for you. You can bring all electronics and whatever you like.”

“I’m sorry, what exactly did she do?” Juliana asks with worry.

“I am afraid I cannot tell you that. The most important thing is that you’re safe. Now will you please make this go faster?” she asks annoyed. We gather our belongings and walk down the  hall. We pass women in cells. Some are crying, some are trying to break free. I just feel so bad for them. They lead us to our cells. It had 5 mats, one for each of us, a toilet and sink, and a curtain. “There you go. Home sweet home she says before locking us in.

“What do you think Maddox did?” Shaylee asked shivering because there was no heater in the jail. 

“I think that they’re gonna arrest her. They think she’s the killer and they want to make sure she won’t roam the streets going on a murder spree. But as long as she finds a good attorney who can offer her a plea deal, she’ll make it out of this with only 15 years. 10 with good behavior.”  Ava says. Can’t believe she knows about all of this.

“Now we just have to wait.” Lila says while staring at the wall and dying of boredom. This was gonna be a long night.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Maddox POV

 

I’m on my way to the cabin when my phone buzzes. Oh shit, my phone!!! They can track me. I reluctantly smash it on the ground. At least now they won’t know where I am. I make my way into the woods. It should be coming up to the left. I get to the cabin but am shocked to see what I’m greeted with. It’s the cops.

“Put your hand where I can see them!” the man shouts. I put my hands up behind my head. This is my last free moment. 

“Slowly turn around.” they say. I do as I’m told. They grab my hands and handcuff me. 

“You are under arrest for the murder of Eva Bartolome. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against with you.” they say harshly. 

They drag me into the car, kicking and screaming. I’ll never go to school. Never have a real meal. Never go to college. Will probably get kicked out of most jobs. Why do all the innocent people take the blame.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Ava POV

We’re all in the cell and they unlock it. “We found her. You’re free to go.” she says.

We all sprint out to the lobby waiting for Maddox’s return. It was about 10 minutes later that she came in,  handcuffed and crying. They drag her harshly through the door. When Maddox passes us, she escapes from their hands and gives Toni a hug. They then tear her away and drag her  through the halls. We can hear her scream “I love you all, I didn’t kill her. Police, you need to listen to me!” she shouts before we hear the door slam shut. Silencing her.

Notes:  
~~~~~~~~  
I think this the longest chapter I’ve  written and let me just say, this is a journey. I literally can’t even describe writing this. It’s my new passion. It’s literally amazing just taking all your friends and putting them in this fake world that you get to pretend is real. Doin this has been amazing. And no, I'm still gonna write this until a wedding happens. Yeah a wedding’s gonna happen.. BYE


	11. My Name is Chosen, not Cheryl

Notes:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So this chapter is basically dedicated to the new member of the now seven (or 8 depending if you include Kate). And thank you to Stella for giving me this amazing idea for a new character. Enjoy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Chosen POV

 

I knew I was different since I was two months old.

 

I don’t really remember much (obviously) so this is all what my dads told me. Literally from birth, when they took me to the frilly pink nursery, I screamed and cried and wouldn’t stop until they took me out of the room. When they tried to dress me in dresses and skirts, I cried and made them change me into the plain white onesie. They didn’t know what was going on. They tried almost everything from taking me to the doctors to reading buzzfeed articles about stubborn babies trying to find an answer. Then, one day father came home screaming saying he may have found the answer. They talked about it for hours and went to bed. The next day they put me in blue and green onesies and got me red bed sheets, gave me toy trucks and cars, and took me outside. I was perfectly fine. No crying, no screaming, just laughter and happiness. And then they knew. I was trans.

 

When they made me go to a unisex bathroom in kindergarten, I knew something was up. I always wondered why I couldn’t go to the boy’s bathroom like the other boys. I wondered why Msr. Mainor always used they and them pronouns. I always thought ‘why couldn’t I be normal’? So I asked dad one day. He called father over and we sat on the couch. They told me I was originally born a girl (which freaked me the fuck out at first) and said I decided I wanted to be a boy. Even though I didn’t remember my decision, it felt right.

 

Fourth grade was the worst. The teacher was so awful. Technically, on my birth certificate it said “Cheryl Marjorie Jacobs”. My dads didn’t change it for some reason. Anyways, my teacher called me Cheryl, made me go with the girls when we split up, and ultimately made that year a living hell. It clearly states on my school enrollment that my preferred pronouns are he and his. Because the teacher was like that, the other kids acted like that too. I once asked Bryce if I could go over to his house and study. He replied “my mom won’t let me have girls over”. Yeah my year sucked. And not to mention, to torturous bullying that the school did NOTHING about.

 

I thought middle school would change something. Maybe people would be more open minded about me. Some people were. I made this friend. Her name was Juliana. She was so sweet and kind to me. When everyone was sneering in the hallway, she flipped them off and we laughed about it later. When they called me Cheryl, she called the leader “the most obvious virgin in the world.” back then everyone thought she was this huge savage and everyone wanted to be her friend. 

 

Alas, my dads got a 2 year long job in Seattle so we had to move. I left behind all the bad memories. But I also left behind the good ones. Like the park I used to go to and the treehouse we hung out in all the time. We still occasionally texted. 

 

The new school was average. I got some pretty good teachers. Some awful ones. But I can handle them. I didn’t make any friends. When a new kid is in school, everyone talks about them. But when a new TRANS kid comes, the whole fucking town makes a huge fuss over it. And when I actually got there, almost everyone said “wow, you actually look like a guy. But like a hot guy.” or some other shit like that. I never made any friends because I was too afraid they would betray me. By May of 2020, I came home and saw my dads packing. They told me their two years were up. We were going back to Boring.

 

I was excited but also nervous to come back. It’s high school and there’s even more people that will judge me. And Juliana probably has new friends and probably turned into one of those stuck up bitches. I get there and find my classes. Haven’t made any friends still. Wasn’t expecting to anyways. 

 

There was a signup sheet for the musical. They usually put one on every year. I look at the signup sheet. A lot of the names are already filled. I sign up for Moritz, the guy who is suicidal. Hate to say it but I can relate.

 

I get to rehearsal a couple minutes early. The snobby theater hipsters are already there filing their nails. The doors open and everyone looks in their direction. A group of girls show up. Two are real tall, two are average, and there’s one girl that sticks out. It’s Juliana. I decide to let her start the convo. I expect her to ignore me. But, she looks in my direction and her eyes widen.

 

“Oh my god. Chosen, when did you get back?” she asks while we hug.

 

“Couple days ago. How’re you?” i ask.

 

“I’m good. You?” she asks. Wow, someone actually cares about my feelings.

 

“I’m managing.” I say, being honest. I look at her squad behind her. The one with the ponytail seems to be staring while the others are conversing. She’s pretty. Real pretty. Wait why tf am I thinking about this?

 

“Bitches, this is Chosen. If you don’t remember, we were friends before he moved away.” she says introducing me to “the bitches”. Wow she hasn’t changed.

 

“This is Shaylee, Stella, Ava, and Maddox.” she say while pointing to them all. Maddox. That’s her name.

 

“I’m Chosen, and my tenth word was fuck. Can I be your friend?” I joke. They all laugh. Nice to know I have some sense of humor.

 

“Of course. You can sit with us today too.” Maddox offers.

 

“Gladly.” I say.

 

“Alright kids. Welcome to spring awakening. I want you to all introduce yourselves and say who you’re playing.” the teacher says. “I’m Mr. Mazukelli. But call me Mr. Mazu.”I’m actually liking this director. Turns out this was a good choice coming back. Little did I know there was a run of the mill psychopath running around town killing anyone in their way.

 

Notes:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So I wanted to add a new character and this is the time. I wanted to write a light hearted and short chapter after the last one and still have some of it affecting the plot. So now that chosen is added to the main seven, I’d like to say that he had surgery throughout the years to make him look masculine and he’s developed a male voice by growing up a boy. And I named him after Chosen Jacobs, the most underrated member of the IT cast. Go follow him and all that shit. Goodbye!


	12. welcome to carrie the musical

Notes:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I forgot to address this last time, but the police released Maddox because they had no real evidence against her. They’re still looking for the murderer but Maddox is clear. Also, I’m changing the musical to Carrie instead of Spring Awakening. Enjoy. AZ

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

October 13, 2020

Shaylee POV

 

The musical is actually going pretty well. I’m the documentarian, filming a “behind the scenes look of the best musical to ever be produced at Liberty High” as Mr. Mazu said. I’m cool with it. I basically ist around all day being a supportive girlfriend and still get the bragging rights of being in a musical. 

 

“Why would I listen to you?” We were all in a circle doing a table read. It was scene 5 where Cris’ gang of friends were bullying Carrie.

 

“Because, I’m telling the truth. Why mustn’t you believe me?” Lila asked. She was playing the lead (carrie)

 

“‘Why mustn’t I believe you?!’ well one reason if because you say ‘musn’t’ like we’re still in the 1600’s. Second, you’re a fucking psychopath. I mean we all saw you killing that innocent rabbit in the woods didn’t we?” Juliana was playing Cris. she’s a pretty damn good actress ‘because it genuinely seems like she hates her.

 

“And that’s when you guys nod your head, continuously scream pyscho, and bash her head into the sink.” Mr. Mazu says. “Really good job today, Juliana.” 

 

“Thanks.” she says smiling.

 

“Alright let’s move to scene 6. But take 5.” Mr Mazu says.

 

“Hey, can I borrow you for a sec.?” he asks me under his breath. I nod my head as lead he leads me to his office. He sits down on his chair and tells me to get out the camera.

 

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I received an anonymous message. Well-not really anonymous, but I don’t know who wrote it. It says, ‘recast the role of Carrie, or there will be consequences.’” he said showing the note to the camera.

 

“I don't think it’s real. Just some drama queen wanting to be cast as the lead.” I say giving my opinion.

 

“Let’s hope you’re right.” he says forcing a smile 

 

~~~~~~~~

 

The next day could’ve gone better. Somehow Fangs forgot ow to act so him and Juliana had to keep redoing their scene together, the lights broke down so we were stuck in the dark for an hour, and Stella lost her voice so she couldn’t sing.

 

“How’s today going?” I ask my friend group with the camera.

 

“Could be worse.” Lila says before walking off. While she walks off, a sandbag is dropped just in front of her feet and almost hit her. We all just kinda shrugged it off as a technical error. That is until the next day Mr. Mazu pulled me to the office to reveal ANOTHER note from ‘the black hood’ as we liked to call them.

 

“It reads ‘recast the role of Carrie. Next time, I won’t miss.’ who in their right mind think this is the way to get recast.” he says frustrated by the fact that someone felt the need to pretend to be a murderer to be noticed.

 

“Don’t know.” I say in return. Some shit was gonna go down, and it would not be fun

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

It’s opening night, and I think they’re ready to perform. Over the last two weeks, we’ve been getting SO much better. I mean, Maddox can even sing in tune now! Being documentarian has had its perks. I basically get to know everyone’s secrets in order to find out who was writing the letters. They would have to have cut out letters out of magazines, because the letters were totally random sizes, and they would have to be in the show.

 

“Ok, so, we need for the core four couples and alice to go on stage left, the rest of you can go over on stage right. Lila, go to ‘your room’, Maddox, get behind curtain, and Shaylee is sitting with me in the audience. Everyone go!” Mr Mazu directs at everyone “Shaylee, can you grab everyone out of the dressing rooms for me?” he asks.

 

“Of course.” I say as I walk over to Alice’s room. “Alice, show’s starting.” no answer or reply. “Alice?” I decide to walk in without permission. I take a look inside to see if she’s in there. I see her trash can. But it’s filled with magazines with cuts in them. “It was Alice all along.” I say to the camera.

 

“What was me all along?” I hear her voice. Shit!

 

“Nothing. Shows on in like 3 minutes so you gotta get out there.” I tell her without looking her in the eye.

 

She walks off. Time to go find Lila. I open her door and find her and Fangs in an argument. The fight stops as soon as I walk in. It’s like they can read my mind because they walk out to go to there places. Juliana’s speed walking to the stage.

 

“Hey, what’s up?” I ask her.

 

“Nothing. Just getting nervous.” she turns to look at me and I can tell she was crying before. I figure I’ll ask after the show. After I rounded up the others, I take my seat in the auditorium. 

 

The curtain opens and Alice is there singing her heart out. 

 

“My carrie, why don’t you wake up the day’s a starting. I know you are there.” she sings gracefully. So far so good.

 

“Come on, get up.” she says while she waits for the second set of curtains to open. They move abnormally slow and what is revealed behind it is nothing any of us could’ve imagined. Behind the stage, was Lila’s dead body pinned to the wall by several knives. On the wall, it said something most likely written in her blood. It feels like a movie rn but it’s not. Time moves slowly. I audibly gasp and start to cry, Mr. Mazu is running up stage, everybody is screaming and running out of the room in fear, Ava’s dragging Juliana away from the stage, Chosen is hugging Maddox while she cries, and Stella is down here with me crying too. But out of all the chaos, one thing was sure in my mind. Eva’s and Lila’s murder had to be connected. And we had to find out who killed them.

 

Notes:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OMG it been so long since I posted and I’m real sorry for this shitty chapter I made in like 30 minutes. But like, I’m so excited for what will happen next. And I can’t believe I need to say this again, but this has nothing to do with stranger things. I swear my friend came up to me and asked when El was gonna come in. but it’s cool, and I’ deleting that tag now that I have a ‘fanbase’ that I think consists of only my friends so what’s the point anyways. And, I made a Terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible, (if you don’t get the bobby burns reference, we need to talk) terrible oneshot for #siremy this past week. DO NOT READ IT. it’s awful. Ok bye!


	13. no further questions

Ava POV, opening night

…

 

I had managed to get Toni out of there so she could at least calm down enough so we could get back to the trailer. We sat down on the bench and just started crying. We were hugging and crying for 10 minutes (even though it felt like an eternity) until she said something.

 

“Are we allowed to head back?” She asks wanting to sleep. Wanting to not think for at least 6 hours.

 

“They’re gonna keep us here so we can do interviews.” I say sincerely trying to not hurt her feelings. “They’re gonna find them. They’re gonna get the killer.”

 

“And if they don’t?” she asks in an unrecognizable voice.

 

“Then we will.”

 

…

 

General POV

 

“There you go. All of the footage from tonight.” shaylee hands sheriff Keller the camera.

 

“Thank you. We’ll put this in evidence. But, would you say that you were close to her.” he questioned Shaylee.

 

“Yes. we’ve hung out everyday since the first of March.” she says confidently.

 

“I see. How would you describe her relationship with Juliana?” he presses making her want to punch him in the throat.

 

“They loved each other. Juliana still does. Everyday she would just talk about Juliana. And if you think that she killed her, then you’re wrong. My girlfriend was with her when Alice was singing so it couldn’t have been her.” she says shocking the sheriff with her fierceness.

 

“But Ms. Topaz was a phenomenal actress. She’s been in so many musicals and plays that you can’t even keep track. She could be fake crying right now as we speak.” he says making Shaylee’s blood boil.

 

“Well she’s not. She LOVES her. I mean, she literally made sure that the serpents didn’t involve her in ANYTHING so she would be safe.” she says making a good argument.

 

“What about Ms. Ciaramitaro, how would you describe their friendship?” he questions. 

 

“Well, she was the one that introduced Lila to Juliana. They were best friends and honestly, she hung out with her more than almost all of us. She would never kill her.” Shaylee says.

 

“Ms. carpenter?” he asks.

 

“You know what, I’ll just let you figure out the rest by yourself. I technically don’t have to be here, so why even bother talking to you.” Shaylee says as she marches out.

 

…

 

“Lila seemed… angry before she went on stage. And that entire two weeks, she was saying she had to go somewhere to be with her mom.. But during those times, I saw her mom at the grocery store, buying brownies and milk. I asked her where Lila was and she said that she was off with one of her friends. I asked everyone about it, but nobody knows who was with her those nights.” stella confesses trying to find a way to help. Sheriff looks proud, that someone was providing an actual good and believable lead.

 

“Who do you think she was with?” he questions.

 

“Probably someone in our school.” she explains.

 

“How would you describe her relationship with Ms. Carpenter?” he presses hoping she will answer what Shaylee didn’t.

 

“She was always kind of rude to her. She would exclude her, ignore her, and stare at her with an envious expression.” Stella tells. Sheriff nods his head conflictingly.

 

“And Ms. Topaz?” he asks with further questioning.

 

“She didn’t kill her. I was with her backstage for almost the entire hour before the show.” she adds.

 

“What do you mean by almost?” he questions.

 

“She walked down the hall for like 15 seconds. She came back crying and said that Lila was cheating on her and she caught her making out with someone. She couldn’t see his face, but he was wearing a serpent jacket.” she says retelling Juliana’s story.

 

“So you think Ms. Carpenter killed Ms. Collins?”

 

“No. she wasn’t staring at her because she wanted to kill her.” she says firmly

 

“Why do you think she would glare and stare at her?” he questions becoming intrigued by her story.

 

“She stared…… she stared because she has a crush on her. She’s always been jealous of Lila and would constantly envy her. But it wasn’t mallischous. It was just teenage drama. You’re blowing this way out of proportion.” she says with a shaky voice.

 

“No further questions.” he said wrapping up her interview.

 

…

 

“Now, the others have informed me that you were backstage and had no contact with Ms. Collins. Is that correct.” sheriff keller asks.

 

“Correct. I didn’t even get to say goodbye….” she says before letting a few tears fall. Sheriff keller knew in that moment that she wasn’t faking it. He could see the pain and sorrow and anger in her eyes. Something that no actor can do. At least none of the ones he met or saw.

 

“How would you describe your relationship?” He questioned.

 

“It was amazing the first 7 months. But the last month has been tense. She kept backing away and suddenly cancelling our date to go help with her mom. But then me and Stella saw her mom at the store alone and nobody knew where Lila was.” she says.

 

“What do you think made her back away?” he asks.

 

“She was cheating on me. Backstage, I looked in her dressing room door and saw her making out with some guy from the serpents.” she says letting more tears fall.

 

“Who do you think it was?” he asked.

 

“It had to be Fangs Fogarty. It was his hair, his jeans, his red mark of blood on the jacket, it was him. I know it.” she says with confidence.

 

“how would you describe her relationship with Ms. Weisskopf?” he questions with curiosity.

 

“To be honest… they hung out the least among our group. Maddox was mainly spending time with Eva and I. she told me that she just didn’t like her personality.” she answers.

 

“And Ms. Carpenter?”

 

“Ava was always staring at her whenever she was with me. She would join in our convos and just seemed really forced into a friendship with her.” she says recalling the countless amount of times it had happened. “She never told me why though.”

 

“Lastly, who do you think killed Ms. Collins?” he asks finally.

 

“The same person who killed Eva. the black hood.” she says fiercely

 

“Who do you think the black hood is?” he questions before letting her leave.

 

“I don’t know. But I’ll get to the bottom of this.”

 

“No further questions.” he says concluding the questioning.

 

…

 

“Were you ever jealous of Ms. Collins?” he asked trying to get to the bottom of this.

 

“Yes….. I like Toni as more than a friend. That’s why I would always stare at them together.” she confesses.

 

“Who’s Toni?” he asks with confusion.

 

“Sorry, I call her toni but her real name is Juliana Topaz. Sorry again.” she says explaining herself.

 

“Her other friends have reported her going off somewhere alone without telling anyone. Is this true?”

 

“Yes. one day Toni asked me about it and then all the others. Nobody knows.” she says with memories stuck in her head.

 

“Where were you the first hour before opening night?” he asks.

 

“Well, I’m horrible at makeup so I spent about 40 minutes trying to do it. After that, I sat with my mom until it was time to go on stage.” she says.

 

“Who do you think killed Ms. Collins?” he asked his final question.

 

“Kate Prichard.”

 

…

 

“How would you describe your friendship with Ms. Collins?” he asks the brunette.

 

“We were never really that close. On the outside it looked like we were a tight group of friends. But there were cracks and gaps in the group. I never really liked her personality that well so I didn’t hang out with her unless we were in a group.” she says.

 

“Did you have any contact with her the hour before curtain?” he presses.

 

“No. I haven’t talked to her since two days ago.” she snaps.

 

“Would you say that Ms. Collins was in love with Ms. Topaz?” he questions.

 

“No. from the outside yes. But she kept on bailing her to ‘help with her mom at the diner’.”

 

“Finally, who do you think killed Ms. Collins?” he questions.

 

“Fangs Fogarty.”

 

…

 

“Now, I understand that you joined her friend group only three weeks ago.” he says.

 

“Correct. I just moved back from Seattle.” Chosen says repeating the statement.

 

“Now, you were close with Ms Topaz in the sixth grade. Did you notice anything different about her about 10 minutes before curtain?” sheriff questions.

 

“She seemed upset. You could tell she was crying. In the lobby, she told me that Lila was cheating her though.” Chosen says.

 

“Would you say you were Ms. Collins friend?”

 

“Yes. we grew pretty close the past few weeks through the musical.” he says confidently.

 

“Where do you think she was on her lonesome nights?” sheriff questions.

 

“Probably hooking up with Fangs.” he says bitterly.

 

“And finally, who do you think killed Ms. Collins?” sheriff Keller concludes.

 

“Fangs Fogarty. Duh.”

 

…

 

“I just wanted to be the lead. I was never gonna hurt anybody. Lila… just gets everything she wants.” Alice says while hysterically crying.

 

“And you had NOTHiNG to do with the murder?” he says.

 

“Of course. It was stupid teenage bullshit.” she says.

 

“Were you and Ms. Collins friends?” he asks.

 

“No, not really. We used to be friends when we were 8 but we’ve drifted apart.” she says coldly.

 

“Did you think that Lila was in any threat?” he asked.

 

“No.” she said. “She seemed happier than ever.”

 

“Finally, and be honest, who do you think killed her?” he asks the concluding question.

 

“Maddox Weisskopf.”

 

…

 

“Alright, I’m just gonna get straight to the point. I’ve heard from three different people that Ms. Collins was cheating on Ms. Topaz with you. Is this true.” he asks getting tired of talking to the teenagers.

 

“Yes…. I didn’t mean for it to come out like this. Lila said she was gonna break things off with her, but she never did. I got angry back there, and started shouting at her.” he replies. “But, I had no idea Toni would find out.”

 

“On these ‘lonesome nights’ was she with you?” he asks wanting more answers.

 

“Yes…. we hooked up in the shed by Hog Eye’s trailer.” he replies

 

“And what was your last interaction with Ms. Collins?” sheriff asks.

 

“I already told you. In her dressing room like.. 3 minutes before curtain. I left her in there by herself. That’s probably when she was killed.” Fangs says.

 

“Who do you think killed Ms Collins?” the sheriff asked the teenager

 

“Mr. Mazu.”

 

…

 

“Now, you were the director of the play. Please explain how you let one of your students be murdered in a matter of minutes and be dragged and pinned to the stage wall without noticing.” the sheriff presses.

 

“I was on stage left with Juliana, Stella, Ava, and Sweet Pea.” he says. “I sent Shaylee to go get the kids.”

 

“Yeah, you sent your ‘documentarian’ aka ‘your personal errand girl’ to go get her friends. Well I have the footage right here.”

 

“Good. hopefully you can use it to actually do your job.” Mr. Mazu replies.

 

“How would you describe her relationship with Mr. Fogarty.” the sheriff asks while yawning.

 

“They stole glances at each other a lot. Not much else though. Just teenage tea.” he says plainly.

 

“Do you think that Ms. Collins had a stable home life?” sheriff asks.

 

“Yes and no. she had a loving mother. But I overheard her talking about how she was barely paying the rent.” Mr. Mazu says.

 

“Look, I’ve got more questions to ask you, but I already know your response. So who do you think killed Ms. Collins?”

 

“Ava Carpenter.”

 

Notes:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OMG you have no idea how long this took me. I think it was like an hour and a half. But like, I still have no idea who the black hood is gonna be. I was thinking of doing one person, but it was too obvious. I’m also sorry for not updating frequently, I’ve just been a lazy asshole this entire week. Anyways, hope you stuck through my awful writing and have a boring day!


	14. the aftermath

Notes:  
```````````  
So, in the serpents, they basically think of everyone they don’t date like family. So Shaylee and Juliana could call Sweet Pea their brother, but aren’t related. Just so you know.  
````````````````````

 

Stella Pov, opening night  
1:00 am

 

We’ve been here for so long. Like, their keeping us all here for no reason. Soon enough, Mr. Mazu comes out with sheriff Keller.

“You can all go now.” he replies while taking a sip of his coffee.

The seven of us are all staying at Juli’s and Sweet Pea’s trailer. We couldn’t take their motorcycles because one would be left behind so we settled for my mom’s car again. There’s no way in hell we would let Juli drive in this state of mind so Sweet Pea’s driving. He’s just as reckless as stressed Juli. we eventually get to the trailer and settle in. I start the fire in the fireplace and Juli cooks spaghetti and garlic bread for everyone. Nobody has talked yet.

“Hey, so I didn’t even fuckin talk to this chic, but what Fangs did… breaks our laws.” he says while everyone looks in his direction. “What I’m trying to say is, should we tell FP? ‘Cuz we can get him kicked off if you want, tiny. I mean I doubt the others would but if we ca-”

“Sweets, it’s fine. Just stupid teenage bullshit. As much as I dislike him right now, I won’t let him be kicked out over something stupid.” Juli says while looking at him. Apparently they have nicknames.

“Ok, but will you at least yell at him?” he asks with the puppy eyes.

“I sure will.” she replies with a small laugh. Hey, at least she’s not crying.

“So, like… do you guys wanna braid each others hair or some shit?” sweet pea jokes making all of us laugh.

“Well, we could play detective…” Shaylee suggests. “I mean we don’t have ot. It’s probably too soo-”

“No princess, I want to. I wanna get to the bottom of this.” Juli says calling her by her serpent identity.

“Let’s do it.”

We all gather in a circle on the floor. Chosen and Shaylee will do bullet points, Maddox and I will make the timeline, Ava will make a suspects list, Juli and Sweet Pea will be the theorizers. It sounds stupid, but we did this for Eva’s murder. We never figured it out though.

“Alright, so we’re gonna go in a circle saying who we think killed her. I’ll go first. Alice.” Maddox starts

“Mr. Mazu”

“Fangs.”

“Fangs.”

“Alice.”

“Alice.”

“Fp.”

“Ok, so 3 for Alice, 2 for Fangs, 1 for Mr. Mazu, and 1 for FP. so, we need the timeline now. We all got to the auditorium at 6:00 pm.” Sweet Pea leads trying to be more involved in his sister’s girlfriend’s murder mystery.

“We all did our makeup at 6:15” Shaylee adds while all the girls nod.

“She left between 6:25-6:35 most likely.” Ava adds.

“She then went to her dressing room. To get in costume.” Maddox adds.

“Tiny, when do you remember catching her with Fangs?” Sweet Pea asks.

“I think it was 6:45.” she says while Stella nods.

“Princess, you were filming. He sent you to find them. Did you see them leave.?” he leads.

“I remember Fangs leaving. Not Lila. but they were fighting when I walked in. 15 seconds later, Juliana was speed walking down the hall. They must’ve known Juliana saw them and had an argument.” Shaylee says.

“Showtime’s at 7:00 so there had to be at least a 10 minute window for the black hood to strike and still have time to pin her to the wall.” Chosen says.

“Shay, what time do you think you saw Fangs leave to go on stage right?” Juliana asks.

“Most likely 6:50.” she replies.

“So we have a 5 minute window where she was murdered. Took at least 3 minutes to pinned and displayed.” Sweet Pea added.

“And run back to wherever they were before in 2 minutes.” Juliana said finishing Sweet Pea’s sentence.

“Look, you know how we were getting those threatening letter?” Shaylee asked while everyone nodded. “It was Alice. I saw the magazine cutouts in her dressing room. But that was after I found Fangs and Lila. I don’t think that’s enough time to kill someone.” 

“So can we all agree that Alice didn’t kill her?” Ava asks with a leaderness in her voice.

“Yeah.” we all said in unison.

“So that leaves Fangs, Mr. Mazu and FP. Maddox, FP wasn’t even at the show.” said Ava.

“Oh yeaaaaaaaaah.” says Maddox dumbly.

“Yeah. so that leaves Mr. Mazu and Fangs.” said Juliana.

“Does anyone know where Fangs went after he was in her dressing room?” Chosen asks the group.

“Nope.”  
“Wish I did.”  
“No…”  
“No.”  
“Unfortunately not.”  
“No.”

“We could ask Mr. Mazu?” I suggest.

“He’s one of the suspects. Who knows if we can trust him.” Maddox argues convincing Stella.

“Who else was backstage tonight?” Maddox wonders aloud.

“Ryan, Kevin, Archie and Valerie.” Sweet Pea lists.

“Kevin is like best friends with Fangs. We could ask him.” Juli suggests.

“And Archie and Ryan are on the football team with him. They could have known where he was.”

“Ok. So, Me and Tiny will go question Kevin. Princess and Stella will go question Archie. Chosen and Maddox will question Ryan. Ava, you’re alone for this one, but you’ll question Valerie. Sound cool?” Sweet Pea plans. Everyone agrees it’s a good plan.

“We should record the responses so we could listen back to it.” Maddox suggests.

“FP’s got a bunch of tape recorders. We could use them.” Shaylee adds.

“And we’re doing the questioning tomorrow.” Ava says while everyone nods.

“Ok, now I'm pretty tired so Imma head to bed. Nite dudes.” Sweet Pea says before going back to his room. Chosen follows him while the girls gather on the floor of Juli’s room. We all head to bed and I can’t help but think Ava had something to do with it. I don’t know why but it just seems off.


	15. "questioning"

Juliana POV, Pop’s Chock’lit shoppe

 

We were sitting on our motorcycles waiting for 10:00 am to arrive. Kevin came here everyday after Saturday church. Which, in itself is surprising. He’s gay and has had like a huge crush on Fangs for the past year. We had a list of all the questions we came up with earlier this morning. 

His dad’s sheriff car pulled up into the parking lot. We then looked up and waited for him to arrive. He stayed in his car for a long time. They were arguing and Kevin slammed the door on his way out of the car. He was speed walking to the diner when he was stopped by us blocking the entrance.

“Can you please move out of the way?” he says annoyed.

“Can we please ask you some questions about last night?” I ask

“Uh…. why?” he asks confused.

“Just let us ask you a few questions. You’re being really annoying right now.” Sweets says.

“Fine.”

…………

Maddox POV, the movies

Ryan had been a movie nerd. He doesn’t go to watch movies though. He goes to meet with the movie club that’s run by a middle aged white dude that has super creepy vibes. I tried it out in the Summer but it got boring. All you really did was talk about movies. And I do that all the time to annoy my parents. It just so happened that they met on Saturdays after church. Me and Chosen were waiting in the lobby for him.

“So, can we just talk about last night?” he asks with a low voice.

“I told you, it was too soon.” I say while refusing to make eye contact with him. He doesn’t talk after that. Nor do I.

He’s walking over to the concession stand wearing his fancy church clothes. He looks incredibly uncomfortable in his suit. He finishes paying as we stop behind him.

“Holy shit guys. What do you want?” he asks.

“We were hoping you could answer a few questions for us.” Chosen says trying to sound serious.

“Ok….? about what?”

“About last night.” I say.

“Ok. ask away.” he says with an eye roll

………………………

Shaylee POV

We wait in Stella’s baby pink buggy. I swear she own too much pink. We’re in front of Archie’s house debating what we should tell his dad.

“What about ‘we’re in his english and had a question about homework’” Stella suggests.

“We could’ve just texted him.” I argue annoyingly.

“Lets just say he invited us over.” Stella says with sarcasm.

“That’s actually a good idea.” I say already opening the door. “Good job Stella.”

We walk over to the door and repeatedly knock on the door. It takes a while but eventually Archie opens the door. He’s sweaty and heavily breathing. Most likely was working out.

“What are you guys doing here?” he asks.

“Can we talk to you for a minute?” Stella asks trying to sound cool.

……………………………………..

Sweet Pea POV, the diner

 

“Were you with Fangs at all last night?” Tiny asks in a tough but cute voice. Why the fuck do I think her voice is cute.

“Yeah. we talked in the sheriff’s office.” he says taking a sip of his strawberry milkshake.

“She meant the hour before curtain, Keller.” I state with annoyance.

“Nope. I was with Valerie the whole time.” he says.

“And you’re being completely honest?” Tiny asks wanting to be sure.

“Yes. why would I ever lie to you?” he asks Tiny. They’ve been friends since kindergarten and they’ve always gone to Hillcrest every weekend together. It was a known fact.

“Alright. Thanks Keller.” I say before taking Tiny’s hand and guiding her out of the diner. Well, that didn’t work. I text the others and say we found out nothing. They aren’t responding so that must mean something good.

…………………

Maddox POV, the book star

 

“Were you with Fangs at all last night?” I ask.

“If I’m assuming right, I wasn’t with him at all the hour before curtain. I know Archie talked to him for a bit but that was it.

“Ok. thanks dude.” Chosen says before getting up.

“Bye Maddox! Bye Cheryl!” He says before leaving into a random theater. Chosen flinched at the name and continued to walk faster down the road to the bike. I text the others we found nothing. At least we still have Archie and Valerie.

………………….

Stella POV, Archie’s house.

 

We step into the house. It’s a lot fancier and modern than what I would have expected. We sit down at the kitchen table.

“Did you talk to Fangs at all last night?” Shaylee asks after a yawn.

“Yeah. we talked about Malana and Lila.” he says giving us information. “Is it really important though? I mean we all know that Lila was killed. Shouldn’t the sheriff be questioning us?” he asks dumbly.

“Just tell us if he seemed like he was gonna kill someone.” Shaylee asks while resting her head on the marble table.

“No. but most people aren’t. Now my dad’s gonna be here in like any minute so can you go?” he asks looking side to side to see if his dad came yet. We get up and walk over to the car.

“Well this was a fail.”


	16. And he drove

Chosen POV, the trailer

 

We all met back up at the trailer. Nobody found anything. All we knew is that Archie was talking to Fangs about Malana and Lila. Ava said that Valerie said that she was with Kevin the whole time, so there wasn’t much to it. We had been sitting in the main ‘room’ all on our phones when Stella speaks up.

 

“Guys?” she asks getting everyone’s attention.

 

“I know this sounds stupid, but do you think we can talk to Fangs about last night?” she asks the group.

 

“That actually might be a good idea.” Juliana agrees. “He trusts Sweet Pea the most.”

 

“Fine, I’ll talk to him at Pop’s. He has his shift there in like an hour.” he says while sitting on the coffee table. “But I’m not going alone. Knowing he most likely killed her.”

 

“I’ll go. Besides I’m hungry anyways.” Juliana says while putting on her serpent jacket.

 

“Hey, I have to go to Saturday school right now. I’ll be back in like 4 hours.” says Ava before leaving on her bike.

 

“Well, we’re gonna go to Pop’s. See you later.” says Sweet Pea while leaving with Juliana.

 

 

After the three leave, the rest of us are left waiting.

 

“Is it just me, or is it really convenient that Ava had to go right now. I mean, her ‘friend’ just got murdered and all the sudden she has go to Saturday school. And only for 4 hours.” Say Stella.

 

“Stella, she would never kill the girls. You know that.” Maddox says.

 

“Yeah……..” she says before quickly talking. “I wasn’t gonna bring this up last night, but why would Ava be with her mom if she kicked her out of the house?” Stella theorizes crazily.

 

“You’re just being paranoid. We’re all in this together. She’s not the black hood, ok?” I tell stella. But deep down, I kind of agree that hanging out with her mom was really sketchy.

 

…………………………….

 

Sweet Pea POV, Pop’s

 

We pull up and walk into the brightly lighted diner. It’s completely empty except for Pop Tate.

 

“Ok, I’m going to the bathroom and waiting for him to clean it. You stay out her and keep watch.” I say leading this exhibition.

 

“Got it. I’ll be in the front booth.” she says before sitting in the booth. I open the bathroom door and sure enough, Fangs is mopping one of the stalls. He notices me entering and smiles.

 

“Hey, how’s your day?” he asks.

 

“Are you seriously asking me that? You were hooking up with Lila behind all of our backs and you just think we can be friends again?!” I ask/shout getting angry.

 

‘Look, I’m sorry if I hurt your crush’s feelings, but Lila told me she broke it off with her.” He says dropping his mop to the floor in exasperation. 

 

“Just tell me now, did you kill her?” I ask getting tired of talking to him.

 

“No, ok? I left the room to go on stage. I was right across from you dude!” he says. And then I remember him on stage right smiling while talking to Kevin. He didn’t kill her. Wow.

 

“Ok cool.” I say.

 

“Now, I have to clean the kitchen. Bye bro.” he says before leaving for the kitchen through the ‘secret door’. I stay in the bathroom trying to process this. If he didn’t kill her, who did? They would have to find out. I walk out of the bathroom but stop dead in my tracks at the sight before me. Pop Tate is traumatized on the floor, the black hood is across the room pointing a gun at Tiny. the hooded person is very lean and tall. I have to remember this. He sees me, and pulls the trigger. It makes a very loud noise. Tiny drops to the floor clutching her stomach that’s pouring blood. The hood dashes out of the diner. Pop Tate calls 911. But all I can think about is Tiny possibly dying like this. I knew the ambulance wouldn’t come in time, so I stole Pop’s car keys and placed Tiny in the backseat. I got into the driver’s seat.

 

And I drove.


	17. Brave New World

Sweet Pea POV

 

I was driving as fast as I could without hitting any other cars. Tiny was bleeding profusely and was crying in the back seat. I kept saying ‘“we’re almost there” and comforting words. Nit like she was paying attention though. I get to the hospital and carry her in bridal style.

 

“Doctor! Doctor! She needs your help. She got shot.” I scream wanting to get someone’s attention. A doctor in pink scrubs and one in blue scrubs get her a stretcher and wheel her into the surgery room saying a bunch of weird medical shit. I called our friends over and they were on their way. I’m sitting on one of the uncomfortable waiting room chairs overwhelmed with guilt. You see, she didn’t have to be there. She could’ve just left. But she stayed. And she got shot because of it. Eventually, ‘the bitches’ emerge through the doors. All of them were there except for Ava. but, she was at Saturday school so she had a valid reason. They all rush over to me and hug me crushing my bones. I couldn’t really think straight, because all I thought about was how Tiny was doing in surgery. We all break down and cry together, not caring who is watching. One of the nurses eventually slowly walks in the waiting room.

 

“Juliana Topaz?” she says waiting. All five of us walk over to her.

 

“She’s stable. We were able to get the bullet out without damaging any arteries. But, she’s still on anesthesia so she won't wake up for awhile. She can have one visitor at a time, but family only.” she states before leaving back behind the door. We all walk towards the room’s window. I was preparing myself for it, but it still ached to see her like that, knowing it was partially my fault. She looked dead to be honest. I started to tear up and Chosen hugged me. 

 

We walk back over to the waiting room. Somebody stole on of the chairs so I was sitting on the floor. I was in a full on panic attack. I was breathing faster, and it felt like there was a barrier in my lungs. My whole body was shaking with sobs. Chosen took notice and kneeled next to me on the floor. He didn’t know what to do so he just sat there. He was crying too.

 

“I’m so sorry.” I speak in voice hardly above a whisper.

 

“Hey, don’t be sorry. You did not shoot her. You have nothing to be sorry for.” He says.

 

“But it’s my fault. I could’ve gone to see Fangs alone. But she went with me. And she’s the one in the hospital while I’m out here when it was my idea.” I say, managing to form complete sentences.

 

“No it’s not. She’s the one who wanted to go with you. You never forced her to come. Do I think it was stupid of her not to run? Yes. But she’s gonna wake up and it’ll be back to normal.” he said. I don’t think I know what normal is anymore, but if Tiny’s okay when it’s normal, I’m okay with that.

 

We stay there for another few hours. It’s around 9:00 pm when a doctor comes out of the white door again.

 

“Juliana Topaz?” she says yawning, clearly tired from working. We all get up and walk towards her.

 

“She’s awake now. If she can identify you, you may go in. who’s going first?” she asks tiredly. The whole group says, “Sweet Pea.” Me and the tired doctor wal over to her room. Tiny smiles when she sees a familiar face and the doctor leaves seeing that it’s enough. I take a deep breath before walking in. I walk over and sit at the end of her bed.

 

“How are you?” I ask.

 

“Well, I got shot so pretty bad. But, I’d feel worse if they didn’t have me on pain killers.” she says.

 

“I’m really sorry.” I say. “You didn’t have to be at the diner and you went anyways. And I was too busy talking to Fangs to even notice that there was a run of the mill psychopath a couple feet out of the door and-”

 

“Hey,” she says lifting my face up forcing me to look her in the eye. “ you have nothing, and I mean NOTHING, to be sorry about.” she says.

 

“But, I didn’t run after them.” I say starting to cry.

 

“Yeah, you didn’t run after them because you were too worried with me. You floored the whole way here even when Pop’s car was about to break down. You waited all this time to see me. I can’t thank you enough.” she said. It was silent for a moment. The good kind of silence. I had an idea so I did just that. I kissed her. She was surprised at first, but then smiled and laughed under her breath.

 

“What’s so funny?” I ask with a light voice.

 

“The fact it took you this long to kiss me! You had me in such agony wondering whether you liked me or not.” she says with a smiley tone. She really was happy.


	18. The Noose Tightens

notes:  
____________

so this chapter sucks but I wanted to get something uploaded. enjoy!

 

 

Sweet Pea POV

 

Yesterday Toni got released from the hospital. Bad news is, she’s in debt 86,000 dollars. Yep, this is bad. We asked Maddox’s parents for the money, since they own Pop’s diner, but said they couldn’t waste the money. After that, me and Toni just hung out at the trailer all day. We didn’t do the stupid textbook homework, but we forged signatures so we wouldn’t have to finish it. Things with Toni after our little moment in the hospital room have changed. We’re flirting (more than we usually did) and just talking about body remix goldberg arte. 

 

I wake up around 6:00 and find Toni on her phone already ready to go. She wakes up at 5:00 so I’m not that surprised. There’s premade pancakes on the counter which I eat with my bare hands because I want to hurry to school. There’s gonna be a memorial there and the 7 of us are gonna be looking at Mr. Mazu’s reaction. After talking to Fangs, we all decided that he didn’t kill her, so we moved onto Mr. Mazu. 

 

I throw on the jeans and t shirt that are scattered along my floor, grab the serpent jacket and keys, and dash out the door. Toni climbs on behind me, and we ride off to school.

 

 

We arrive there and only see two other cars. We head inside to the writer’s lounge and watching more body remixes while laughing our asses off. Stella, Shaylee, and Ava soon come into the room and sit on the couch across from us. Chosen and Maddox sit on the desk together while we wait for the first bell to ring, signalizing the memorial. 

 

The bell rings and we all head to the auditorium. Unfortunately, they have to seat us in alphabetical order so none of us are sitting together. Stella, Shaylee, and Ava are all “c’s” so they’ll at least be near each other. Toni’s in the seat behind me so we lucked out. Maddox was also there with us, 11 seats to the left of Toni. Chosen was all alone in the “j” section.

 

Principal Callahan strides up on stage, clearly very over confident, in a bright orange suit. “Good morning students. As you may know, one of our 1100 lovely students had passed away. She was brutally killed backstage from the musical. Now, to maintain a safe environment, I’m shutting down Liberty drama until the end of the year.” with that statement, he got many boos, mainly from me and Toni. Toni was losing her shit and looked like she was gonna kill a bitch.

 

“Toni, calm down.” I say leaning my head backwards.

 

“And because there is a murder investigation going on at the school, all clubs will be cancelled until I say it is clear.” this got even more boos. Cancelling the clubs means cancelling the blue and gold paper. 

 

“Now, we will talk about Ms. Collins death.” he says in a very robotic tone, which made our blood boil. “She was a lovely student.”

 

“Yeah a lovely student who was screwing her girlfriend’s brother.” I scream into the silence. 

 

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. She made honor roll, got the lead role in the musical, and had loving friends. If these students could please come up to the stage,” he says. Toni goes into panic mode because he never told anyone about this. “Juliana Topaz, Stella Ciaramitaro, Shaylee Chase, Ava Carpenter, Maddox Weisskopf, Cheryl Jacobs, and Fangs Fogarty.” none of them go on stage for awhile, until Ava, Stella and Shaylee make their way up the stage, Maddox, Chosen, and Fangs following. Toni was still glued to her seat, not making any effort to get up. “Could Juliana Topaz please come on stage?” he asks a bit more sternly.

 

“No!” Toni screams getting his attention. He looked defeated, but went back to the others on stage.

 

“Ms. Collins’ parents are very thankful for you guys being in Lila’s life in the time she had. You may sit back down.” he says. What the fuck was the point of that? Thankfully, the memorial ends and we get going to our classes. Me and Toni have every class but math together so we walk together.

 

“Imma cut to the chase here, who tf killed them?” I ask very annoyed by the fact we didn’t have a fucking clue who it was.

 

“Can I be honest, I think it was Ava.” she says lowering her voice.

 

“Honestly, same. But, the rest of the group shit the idea down when Stella suggested it.” I say remembering how disappointed I was that the group didn’t believe us.

 

“Hold on, where was Ava when I hurt my stomach?” she says. The vp didn’t want us saying ‘shot’ in school.

 

“Saturday school.” I say.

 

“Wait, why would we have saturday school at 6:00 pm? That’s not the saturday school hours.” she says while theorizing. “When did she show up at the hospital?”

 

“Like 2 hours after the rest of them came.” I say while putting the pieces together.

 

“But what about Eva? She was murdered when we were at school.” she says questioning her idea.

 

“Was she at school with you?” I ask her.

 

“No, she showed up after us.”

 

“How long after?” I ask her.

 

“Like, 15 minutes.”

 

“That’s enough time to cover up a murder and frame someone.” I say.

 

“And Lila, Ava said she was with her mom, but her mom had kicked her out. Why would she show up to the show?”

 

“Exactly. After you, Fangs, and Shaylee left, she snuck in her dressing room, stabbed her to death, and ran over to the stage wall through the entrance in her dressing room.” I say explaining. We had only figured it out this morning that there had been a passage from Lila’s dressing room to the stage.

 

“So it was Ava.” she says processing the information.

 

“It was Ava all along.”


	19. Hell Is Empty

Juliana POV

 

It’s literally 3:00 and insomnia has taken over. I just keep thinking about Lila and Eva and everything to do with the black hood. I’m deciding not to go to sleep tonight and just chilling at the trailer. Maybe even try to clean. 

 

We still think that Ava is the black hood, but literally have no way to prove it. And Ava is the one with all the criminology knowledge so there’s nothing we can do. Well, maybe Kate might know something.

 

I get my backpack, get on my bike, and take off into the night. The town is dark, much like me. Maybe it has to do with the fact that it’s three a.m. and searching for Kate like a stalker, but everything feels really creepy. I manage to get over to her house, all the way on the other side of town and 3:45. I know that she gets up at around five for tennis meetups, so i head down to the 24 hour Walmart.

 

I walk in and literally one employee is there and she’s filing her nails while sitting on the conveyor belt. I walk to the starbucks area, but you guessed it, no ones there. I decide to settle for the bottled coffees and call it a day. By the time I’m out, it’s 4:30 so I’m on my way to the Prichard threshold. Only when I get there, that I remember that today she doesn’t have tennis practice, so I’ll be sneaking through the window.

 

I go over to her window area to find a rose bush right there. Once her parents realized that Ava was sneaking over at night, they planted roses to stop her. But she just snuck through the bathroom window, or sometimes her sister McKenna’s window, much to her disagreement. I knock on the window hoping she’ll wake up. It takes a while, but the window eventually slides open to reveal an annoyed Kate.

 

“What are you doing here?” she asks in a whisper.

 

“I needed help.” I said. “Now will you let me in?”

 

“Fine. but be quiet.” she says as I climb through her window. Her room was pretty average. Posters of Tori Amos and Bebe Rexha on her wall, with cheesy motivational quotes on sticky notes throughout the room. “What do you want?”

 

“I think Ava is the black hood.”

 

“If you’re gonna make that big of an accusation, then you’re gonna need a confession or some concrete proof. And if I’m being honest, I completely agree with you.” she says like she’s been in law enforcement for years.

 

“So how do we do that?”

 

“Well do you have a timeline, or did Sweet Pea do that for you?” she asks with sarcasm. She’s been on me for ‘turning straight’ all the sudden.

 

“Well duh, of course we made a timeline.” I say getting a little annoyed.

 

“We, huh?”

 

“Yeha, we. and I brought it with me here.” I say as I pull out the ripped out page in my notebook. Her eyes scan it before thoroughly reading it.

 

“Well everything checks out, but you should try for a confession.”

 

“Alright. Thanks Kate.” I say before leaving and heading to school.

 

I get to school and see Sweet Pea waiting by the double doors.

 

“Where were you this morning?” he asks while we walk into the school.

 

“I couldn’t sleep, so I went to Kate’s house to ask about accusations.”

 

“And what did she say?” he asks with a slightly lower voice.

 

“She said we’d need a confession tape.” i say with a sigh.

 

“And how do we do that?”

 

“I don't know. I’m just gonna bring my tape recorder everywhere and hope that she spills the tea.” I say.

 

“Never say spill the tea when we’re talking about a psychopathic murderer ever again.” he says with an eye roll.

 

“Aww, did I trigger you?” I ask playfully.

 

“Yes, and you hurt my feelings.” he jokes.

 

“Well, I would say I’m sorry, but I’d be lying.” I say before the bell rings.

 

Ava plans a movie night for the girls in the group. We came up with the name ‘level 7’ for our group name, even though it would probably be ‘level 6’ soon. I arrive at Stella’s house and everyone’s already there.

 

“I brought a tape for us to watch. It’s only seven minutes long, so we should watch it first.” Ava says being a little bit too cheery. Like models. Not regular ones, but the crazy, over the top, dramatic ones that think they’re the shit. She pops in the VHS (do they even make them even more lmao) in the player and the screen fades in on the scene.

 

It starts out with a little girl in a pink dress sitting on a wooden stool in some kind of barn like room. The camera looks like iphone 1 quality and the lighting is also shitty. “Do you remember what you’re going to say to the police, Ava?” asks a woman behind the camera, whom I’m assuming is her mother.

 

“Is that you?” Stella asks but Ava’s unresponsive.

 

“Yes. I’m going to tell them that daddy was at the bar with his friends.” says little Ava in the tape. 

“Good. we don’t want daddy to be taken away do we?” the woman asks Ava.

“No. Daddy gets rid of the sinners.” Little Ava says with a pout.

 

“What the fuck?” Shaylee asks.

 

“Yes indeed. We will do better. We must do better. Daddy will make sure of it.” the mom says in an eerily cool way. “That Collins boy was living in a sinful life. He deserved it. And now he will rot in Hell where he belongs.”

 

“Ava, what the fuck are we watching?” I ask scared.

 

“Will you shut the hell up for once in your life.” she says after pausing the video and playing it.

 

“Sinners deserve to die” little Ava said.

“Right. And we will make sure all the sinners die. So you must keep Daddy with us, ok? Now go upstairs so we can wait for the police to arrive.” she says right before the camera cuts off.

 

“Get your tape recorder out Shaylee.” Ava says before standing up to face us. Shaylee pulls it out and starts recording.

 

“I want everyone to know why I did what I did. There is a darkness in my family. My father’s father had it, my father had it, and I also have it. Ms. Juliana over here already knows what I’m gonna say.” she says before kneeling in front of me. “Say it, Juliana.” I’m in tears at this point so I don't say anything yet. “SAY IT!”

 

“Y-you’re the black hood.” I say shakily.

 

“That is correct. Now before you guys attack me, I need to explain. I didn't kill the girls because they were sinners. You see, I’ve always been loyal. And that's because I have very few friends. When people hurt my friends, I hurt them.” Ava says.

 

“And by ‘hurt’ you mean murder!” Maddox says.

 

“Yes.”

 

“But what did Jason do?! He was just a kid. We used to play in the park and go to Pop’s for orange freezes and…..” I say before realizing something.

 

“Tell me what else you did.” Ava says in a mysterious way.

 

“W-we talked about all the hot guys in Panic At The Disco….. Our favorite was Brandon Urie. he had the biggest celebrity crush on him. He had two posters of him in his room.” I say before finally realizing that her father killed him because he was gay.

 

“So you thought you were helping us?” Shaylee asks.

 

“No. I needed to kill the girls because it didn’t feel right that they hurt you two. Especially Lila.” Ava said sadly. “And now, we are all going to die. together.” 

 

“Oh Hell no!”

“Seriously? The fuck is wrong with ya?!”

“Imma leave then.”

 

“No. you cannot leave now that I’ve told you the truth.” Ava says. I have an idea.

 

“Are you guys seriously surprised?” I ask them all trying to play the best part. “I mean, I’ve kinda always known you belonged in a nut house. You were always so creepy. You kept on staring at me across the halls and even across the grocery store. It seriously creeped me out. And I’m honestly kind of glad that you’ll be arrested. You’ll be away from me and you’ll be left to sort out your feeling without getting in the way of things.” I take a step towards her and get her to face away from the girls. I move my head in the direction of a shovel and Shaylee sneaks over to get it. “Remember that one night, where you told me you liked me? I was going to go in for the kiss, but I stepped out. Realized how much more strong and caring Sweet Pea in comparison to you.” at that she gets triggered and you can practically see the steam coming out of her ears. Luckily, the shovel that Shayle got collided with her head and we called the police.

 

 

We’re at the station now, waiting for the okay to leave. The only person left is Maddox. She’s giving her statement now. She emerges out of the way too familiar hallway with Sheriff Keller.

 

“Alright kids, you can head on out. Be safe, especially you.” he says while pointing to me.we all get outside and go off in duos. Me and Sweet Pea go in the McDonalds and sit at a table. 

 

“You good?” he says while devouring his burger.

 

“You good? You’re eating that like you’ve been starving for months.” I say changing the subject.

 

“In times of crisis, my appetite quadruples in size. But I’m serious, you good?” he says.

 

“How good can I be. Just learned that my best friend tried to shoot me, killed my friends, and her dad killed Jason, so yeah, I’m good.” I say while eating another fry.

 

“Good news is, she’s getting locked up, and so is her dad, so you won't have to worry. Trust me.” he says while fidgeting with his sleeves.

 

“But why me? She said she hurts people who hurt her friends, but what did I do?” I ask confused.

 

“You can always ask her.” he says still fidgeting with his sleeves.

 

“Why’re you so fidgety?” I ask wanting to talk about something less dark. He isn't saying anything. “Earth to Sweets? I asked you a question.”

 

“I'm debating telling you or not.” he says refusing to make eye contact.

 

“You can trust me with anything.” i say, thinking that I know what it is, and wanting it desperately not be. 

 

“Remember when you saw dried blood on my switchblade, and I told you that I stabbed an old guy because he stole my lunch? Well… that wasn't exactly the truth.” he said before lifting up his sleeve to show horizontal scars all along the inside of his forearm. I turn away for a second but look back.

 

“Sweets,” I say while putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. We’re both in tears now. “You can't keep doing this to yourself. It's really bad and we all want the best for you so please never do it again because I care about you and it can turn into such a bad habit of doing it every day and it will take over your mind.” i say and he nods his head collapsing into my arms sobbing. “Can I ask you a question?” I feel his head nod, so I take it as a yes. “Why?”

 

“Survivor’s guilt.” he say shamefully. 

 

“Look, if I'm right about this, you shouldn't feel guilty for me being shot. You were the one who saved me when the ambulance didn't show up and speeded to the hospital not giving two shits about the law. It was my fault, ok? Ava had some personal vendetta against me and there’s nothing you could’ve done about it.”

 

“When you say it like that, I guess it makes me look dumb.” he says with a light chuckle.

 

…

 

Chosen POV

 

Me and Maddox walk down to the bus stop. “So, what’s going on with us? It's just been really confusing.” I say wanting answers.

 

“I like you. You like me. And that's what we’re doing. Look, I’m done with Eva for now. I’ve been letting her hold me back for too long, and I’m finally ready to move on. So, Chosen Marjorie Jacobs, will you go out with me on an actual date and not a crime scene investigation?” she asks.

 

“Well, duh. Yes.” i say before adding something. “Should I get my name changed? Like have my passport and ID say Chosen and male?”

 

“Well of course you should. Preferably before 10th grade so you won't have to be tortured by roll call.” she says with a smile.

 

“Let’s do it,”

 

…

 

Shaylee POV

 

Me and Stella are sitting on the ground next to my bike. Ever since FP retired from the serpents, I’ve been dubbed the serpent queen so I need to do something else.

 

“Hey, can I ask you something?” i ask her.

 

“Yeah.”

 

“I know, it's not really your thing, but I think we need another queen in charge here.” i ask trying to be subtle.

 

“Oh my god, are you asking me to join the serpents for you?”

 

“Well duh. You don't have to decide right now. Maybe in two days, or tomorrow, or a couple of hours, or half an hour, or in a couple minutes. Whatever works out for you.” I joke.

 

“I’ll have to think about it, but I’m honored.” she says before going in for the kiss (I can't write kissing scenes, so let your imagination fill in the blanks.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so we only have one more chapter of this. don't worry, there will be a sequel, bonus one shot, and a crossover with one of my friend's books. the next chapter will just be everyone getting closure so there won't be any new drama. see ya!


	20. AUTHORS NOTE - PLEASE READ

ok. so I was originally going to add all the character's final chapter together, but part 1 was already 5 pages and I wasn't really feeling like writing them all on 1, so youre gonna get them all a separate chapter. one for each of the squad, and one chapter at the end to kickstart the sequel. hope youre not too disappointed. Im also going to camp for a week (more like going to hell for a week) and I don't have access to the computer that much. I only really get to use it like once a week if im lucky and it took 45 minutes to write a 5 page chapter but im super proud of Chosen's part. I actually did research for it, so you better like it. I might not get all of the parts in my the end of the week, but ill try my hardest. now go and read part 1 of the seven part finale!

love,   
Juliana/toni/JustJuliana/Julie/Julianananananana


	21. the little things - part one of the seven part finale

Part 1: Chosen

 

Ever since we came up with the idea of my new passport, I haven't really looked into it yet. My dads had always tried to get it changed but somehow never did. I found a website online that looks pretty legit though. I need a photo of my current appearance, a certificate to show that I transitioned, and my legal name. 

 

Great.

 

Well now I'm gonna have to get my name changed before I can do any of this shit.

 

*knock knock* (if you don't get my chapter one reference)

 

“Come in.” i say without my eyes leaving the screen.

 

“Whatcha doin?” dad asks me as he leans down to get a closer look. “How to legally change your name. You do realize you can ask me and Shane, right? Don't always trust google.” he adds with a smile. I used to call my other dad daddy, but quickly stopped as i grew older so I settled for his actual name.

 

“I wanna be more independent. That was how I figured it out, right? Literally turning down the color pink.” i joke.

 

“Right….so our post mate showed up with the Chipotle. Better hurry before Shane eats your burrito.” he says before walking out.

 

 

“So how are we gonna do this?” Maddox asks me.

 

“Well, my dads already got the name change covered. Lots of tears were shed, but they left us with the passport. We’ve gotta go to my physician so we can get him to sign his forms.” I say while packing my backpack with food.

 

“Why we?” she asks being very tired.

 

“Because I'm not going alone.”

 

 

We arrive at the office and we’re waiting in the room. It's your classic hospital room, just covered in posters and glove containers. The doctor comes into the room. 

 

“Hi Chosen! And who is this?” he asks while getting situated on his chair.

 

“I'm Maddox, his girlfriend.” she says a little awkwardly.

 

“Oh how lovely! So what are we here for today.” he asks while typing away and looking at us.

 

“I need you to fill out these forms.” i say giving him the forms. He reads them with a smile.

 

“I'm so proud of you! I still remember when you told me you wanted to be a boy when we were two and your parents were so shocked.” he adds with a chuckle.

 

“That never happened….”

 

“Oh yes it did. I would never forget it! I asked you if you had any problems with your physical appearance and then you dropped the bomb. You don't remember that?” he asked. “Well then again, you were two.” he adds getting a real laugh from Maddox and a fake one from me. He fills out the forms and ushers us out the door. 

 

 

I storm into the house and slam the door shut. My dads are on the couch with the dogs looking concerned.

 

“What’s wrong dude?” Shane asks me. I probably look so enraged right now.

 

“What’s wrong?! What’s wrong, is that I’ve been lied to my whole life. I just came back from the doctor and he let a little secret out that I told you all I was trans at the doctors. And now that I think about it, I was so naïve to think that I just turned down the color pink.” I scream!

 

“I knew we couldn't trust that doctor. Should’ve got a new one.” dad says.

 

“THAT'S ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY?!”

 

“Look, just come sit down with us for a second okay, we-” Shane was saying before I cut him off

 

“No! I'm going to my room and putting vaseline on the door knob since you guys took away my lock!” I scream before storming off. I collapse onto my bed sobbing. I think it goes on for another 20 minutes before I hear a knock on my door. 

 

“Go away. I don't care which of you liars are there. Just go.” I mumble.

 

“Chosen, it's me, ok?” it's Juliana. “Your dads called me over here once they figured out that you weren't leaving your room.”

 

“Fine.”

 

“You wanna talk about it?” Julie says while sitting on the bed. “I still have no idea what the fuck is going on.”

 

“Should I start from the beginning?” I mumble into my pillow.

 

“Go ahead. I've got time.” she says.

 

“So I’ve been wanting to change my passport.” I say retelling the story.

 

“That's great Chosen!” she congratulates.

 

“And I needed my doctor to fill out a form. So I went today and he let out a secret that apparently I said I was trans when I was two and didn't just turn down the color pink.” I say while crying into the pillow silently.

 

“I knew it.”

 

“What?” I ask in confusion.

 

“I never really believed that story, just didn't want to offend you.” she says casually.

 

“So now I'm mad at them. What do I do?” I ask.

 

“Let them explain themselves. It's the least you can do.” she says in a calming voice.

 

“Alright. Thanks for the help.” I say genuinely.

 

“Anytime dude. I've gotta get going now. See ya later bro.” she says while approaching the door.

 

“See ya later, sister.” I say back. I walk out to the living room to my parents. They’re holding hands on the couch listening to one of Trisha Paytas’ songs.

 

“So she told me to let you guys explain to me. I'm giving you ten minutes.” I say at the couch.

 

“It all starts out with a secret………. I had a wife. Her name was Lisa. we had you. After about a month after you were born, Lisa started abusing drugs. She would smoke weed and I later found out that she was drinking while pregnant with you. I filed a restraining order against her two years later when you were two. You didn't ‘tell’ me and Ryland you were trans, you ‘told’ me and Lisa. I used to be super conservative, so when you told me, we reacted horribly. Three months later I developed feelings for this guy at work. Completely changed perspective.” Shane says before letting dad talk.

 

“That guy was me. The first time I met you, you pulled me into the bathroom and told me how evil Shane was. Saying that he didn't want you to be you. I later confronted Shane about this and we agreed to put you on T. your earliest memory was at four right?” he asks me.

 

“Yeah.”

 

“When you were three, we then realized we would have to explain more. We came up with a fake story, so you wouldn’t hate us. We told the Eric not to tell you, but I guess old men have bad memory.” Ryland finishes.

 

“It wasn't malicious or anything of the sort. We just wanted you to have good memories of your loving dads. We promise you, that it wasn't evil doing.” Shane says.

 

“I believe you.” I say before we all hug and cry together.

 

 

“This is it.” Maddox says. The squad is all here in the park at a picnic table. Somehow Sweet Pea is surviving 90 degree weather in a hoodie. Crazy. On the table is an envelope from the government. It's my new passport. We wanted to open it all together.

 

“Time to open it.” says Sweet Pea, sweating and clearly wanting to go back to my air conditioned house. I rip the package open and take a look. It seems very surreal and I needed a group hug to realize this wasn't a dream. It was actually happening.

 

“You know what, we should go on a group trip to Texas or something.” Shaylee suggests.

 

“We should.” i say before laughing. We then start to plan it all out. This could be really fun. 

 

We get back home and see my dads waiting for us with a giant cake. Everyone is excitedly eating the cake and telling the adults about the road trip. They agree to it, just need everyone else’s parents. All my friends leave and it's just me left at the kitchen table clutching to my passport.

 

“You wanna frame it or something?” shane jokes.

 

“I'm just still processing this.” i say in disbelief.

 

“Well you better get used to it.” he says before it goes silent in the room.

 

“Thank you.” I state simply.

 

“For what?” he asks.

 

“For providing all this. For being there and for giving me a chance.”

 

“Well I did kinda owe it to ya after the first two years of your life was filled with princesses and fairies.” he says.

 

“But really. Thank you.” I say wanting to get my point across.

 

“While it might have been very expensive and pricy, I’d do it over and over again. I’d do anything for my son.”


End file.
